Volturi Outpost: Forks, WA
by LauralHill
Summary: Jasper and Edward have been loyal members of the Volturi Guard for over 70 years, keeping vampires in line and eating the worst humans around. But when they arrive in Forks, the wolfpack, Bella Swan, and a vampire who sees the future all conspire to make them ponder where their true loyalties lie. REWRITE of Volturi Outpost 23: Forks.
1. Chapter 1

_**For those of you before, this is mainly the same story. For those of you new - Jasper and Edward met during Edward's rebellious years, and joined the Volturi Guard. So they've never met Alice. The other big change is that Charlie got custody of Bella after the divorce, as he should have, so she only spends summers with her mom. And here we go!**_

 _ **Chapter 1**_

If he had to explain what his power was like, Demetri would say something to the effect of "like recognizing a face, but not by sight." But then, he wasn't especially apt with words, so when he met the first person ever that his power didn't register, he was at a loss.

Fortunately, Edward Masen didn't need words to understand. He had once encountered a vampire immune to his - and Aro's - power, but she had not been immune to Demetri or any other of the rest of the Volturi Guard's powers. And, since she had broken their law by creating an immortal child, her closed mind had not been the most important thing.

 _Immune to Demetri_ , mused Jasper Whitlock, Edward's unshakable partner in the Guard. They had seen quite a lot in the seventy years they'd worked together, and heard of more, but this was new. Demetri pictured the human - a girl barely in her teens, small, brown hair, brown eyes - as he'd seen her on the beach of the Dalmatian coast.

At first her mother had tried to flirt with Demetri, but all his focus was on this girl he saw, but couldn't detect. He managed to corner her after sunset, and she was terrified.

"I told your mother, I only wanted to speak to you."

"But you aren't human," she whispered, so softly that he probably wouldn't have heard if he had been.

"I am not. And you?"

"What? Of course! What the - of course I'm human!"

He chuckled at her indignation. "As I suspected. You look and smell quite human. Enticing, to be frank, but I promise, all I want is to know how you do it."

"Do what?"

"I suppose you have no idea."

"I don't even know what you mean."

"Hmmm. How do you know that I am not - human?"

"I wasn't sure, but when you touched my shoulder..." She shivered. "Uncle Billy tells stories of the Cold Ones. But that's what they call - vampires," she said, the last word a whisper.

"Stories. Hm. Well, I suppose you know that people - vampires and humans - can have special powers? We call such witches, and I am a witch. I can find people after having met them once. Like faces, but without seeing. I can tell if I've met someone before, and if I concentrate, I can find anyone I've ever met before, except for you."

She wrinkled her nose. "So, you think I don't have a face?"

"Ha! I can see you, but I can't, well, feel your presence the way I feel everyone else's. If you aren't doing anything on purpose, I suppose it is your witch power. To be undetectable. By myself, at least. I could try to see if others could detect you, but -"

"Oh my God! You aren't going to kidnap me for your vampire coven, are you?" Her heartbeat was hammering in fear.

"Of course not. But you I must swear to secrecy." He moved behind her, quicker than a human's eye would notice, and lightly grasped her shoulders. "If it were known that we spoke, you would die screaming, I promise."

"I won't tell anyone. No one would believe me, you know."

"What of this man who told you of vampires? Uncle Billy?"

"He's not really my uncle, and I wouldn't tell him anyway. He doesn't even tell me the good stories, I'm not allowed to -"

He gently squeezed her shoulders. "Enough," he said, and then he was gone. He had meant to find out her name, so he could track her by the more usual channels, but when he followed her mother to their hotel, they already had been checking out.

At the end of the recitation, Edward said nothing but, "Huh!"

"Very helpful, Edward."

"Well, what do you want me to say? 'Oh yes, Bella Higgenbotham, I'm quite familiar with her!' Please."

"Yep, I never met 'er, neither," added Jasper, grinning.

"Renee Higgenbotham flew to Boston by way of JFK, but her taxi driver said she was alone," complained Demetri. "And if I have someone ask her about her daughter, no doubt she will be as suspicious as she was last week."

"What else would you expect? Mothers aren't as guarded as they used to be, but even so, they still don't trust strange men with their teenage daughters," said Edward.

"Even if they do look like you," Jasper added with a grin and a wink.

"I'm not in the mood, Jasper," said Demetri tightly. "Aro wants her for the guard, and he's terribly wroth that I let her escape."

"But she's too young to turn," said Edward, alarmed. True, Alec and Jane were the youngest vampires ever turned, but even they were fourteen, and they had only been turned because they would otherwise have been murdered by suspicious neighbors. Even Edward was considered young, at seventeen, to have been turned.

"Yes, I convinced him that it would be better to wait five years, then convince her to join us. If her power is to be undetectable, her neighbors will hardly try to lynch her."

Jasper snorted. "Aro does realize that it's the 21st century, don't he?"

"Humans are humans," insisted Demetri. "If either of you had the same powers as humans as you do now, do you truly think your peers would have been kind to you?"

"To me, sure," quipped Jasper. "Hell, I'm surprised they never did try to stone Eddie, I'll say that for sure."

Edward reached over and pinched Jasper. "It hardly matters. So, hopefully in five years you will find the girl, is that it?"

"That's it. I know you two are stuck in Canada for a while, but do keep an eye out, will you?"

 _ **Five Years Later**_

Edward drove his Aston Martin out of Seattle at a speed even Jasper found too fast. He kept quiet, which gesture Edward appreciated.

Of course, after all these years, Jasper was quite good at suppressing his thoughts. Edward only heard _Love that built-in radar detector_ before he started singing along to the album playing on the stereo. Jasper had purchased _The '59 Sound_ only because of the title - he had a sincere love of the decade, and gravitated to anything hinting of it, be it a car or song - but he and Edward were now quite fond of the Gaslight Anthem. Maybe they had just been a bunch of frat boys jamming and playing Springsteen together, but they were good.

Still, Edward's thoughts were elsewhere. The main office ought to be in Seattle, of course, but Forks was enticing. They could buy or rent something, and easily run to the city. Besides, Forks had even fewer days of sun than Seattle, around 35 compared to 100 a year. They both had other reasons for preferring a small rural town to a big city, of course: their powers.

After the album finished, Jasper pulled out Edward's iPhone - his cell didn't have data at the moment - and began scrolling Forks White Pages. Not a terrible idea, to have everyone's name, address, and phone number in a vampire's memory. Edward was focusing more on driving, but one name caught both his and Jasper's attention:

CULLEN, DR CARLISLE

"Hey, isn't that your sire?"

"Yes," replied Edward in a low tone. He had ... mixed feelings about Carlisle Cullen.

He quickly Googled the name. "Holy shitfire, the humans actually think he's a medical doctor," laughed Jasper. _Easy way to feed._

Edward rolled his eyes. Had Jasper really never listened to Aro lamenting Carlisle's deplorable habits? Their leader certainly didn't keep his thoughts about him private. "Uh, Jasper? He really is a doctor. That's how he turned me, he was ministering flu patients in 1918, and my mother and I died in his care. Well, I didn't die, but you know."

Jasper might not have even noticed, but Edward did, that he was reminded again that Edward had been born less than a century ago. Jasper was so prejudiced against "young'uns" that he tended to forget Edward was one rather than change his mind. "Oh, that's right. So. He's a real doctor. And he doesn't - ?"

"Never. In fact, I think I was the only human whose blood he'd tasted. Well, and his mate," he amended. "I don't know if he's turned anyone else after that, but I would guarantee that he's never fed on anyone else."

Jasper was incredulous, but there was also a small bit of envy. For Jasper felt the terror every time he killed, and he didn't like it much. That fear was the one thing Jasper's power couldn't touch, and Edward could relate. He hated reading the minds of the ones he killed so much that he ate animals as often as he could bear to, but animal blood was insufficient for quenching that unrelenting thirst. In retrospect, he was amazed that he lasted as long as he had with Carlisle. He and Jasper to this day only hunted monsters, even when in Italy not joining the typical feeding sessions. Still, though those humans they killed barely deserved the label, they did still fear death.

"Maybe he'll have some tips for us," Jasper said, breaking through Edward's musings.

"Well, remember what I told you, though. He hated the thought of being what he was." They both knew that Carlisle had tried to starve himself because of that thought, but neither of them had been religious, and both of them rather liked being vampires. They were proud of their abilities, proud of being important members of the Volturi. "Still, I think we ought to stop outside of Humptulips and feed on raccoons or something."

Jasper snorted like a schoolboy at "Humptulips," but nodded his agreement. "And change. Get into character." Their black suits with black ties made Jasper think they looked like Feds, but Edward knew they looked like mobsters. Denizens of the underworld, so to speak. He didn't want to attract any attention in Forks. So, after passing Humptulips, then feeding, they changed into thick, high-waisted, unflattering jeans, flannel shirts - Jasper in a blue and Edward in a red - with sheepskin jackets over. It wasn't exactly cold enough in September for the jackets, but they wouldn't attract attention. At least, not because of their clothing.


	2. Chapter 2

_**Another change: no Emily or imprinting.**_

 _ **Chapter 2**_

As much as Bella loved her friends and her Dad, she loved spending summers with her mom. Granted, as she got older, she had spent less time with her, for summers in Washington were preferable to winters in Arizona or Florida, where Renee spent most of her time. So after starting high school, she spent December with her, and Renee came up to Washington for June.

The summer after her sophomore year, Renee noted right away that something was bothering her. She admitted that she was dreading next year, for her best friends, Rachel and Rebecca Black, would be gone. Rachel would be away at college, and Rebecca's husband-to-be wanted her to move to Hawaii.

"Don't you have any other friends on the res?"

Well, Jake - the twins' brother - was ok, as were Quil and Embry, but Leah ...

"What's wrong with Leah?"

She was a year older than the Blacks, and she had been dating this guy for like, four years, but she never liked Bella. "Calls me paleface."

"Oh, Bella, she's just teasing you."

"Paleface" might be teasing, but "white bitches stealing our men"?

"OK, that sounds pretty bad... but remember, it's her attitude, not yours. Maybe her dad had an affair with a white girl. You never know why people act the way they do. And yes, it's racism, but Leah gets judged whenever she goes anywhere else, and that's racism too. It's human nature to want to separate into packs, but people need to actually use their brains instead of instincts. Do you just not get along with anyone at Forks High?"

It wasn't that, exactly, but she'd been so close to Becky and Rach for so long, it wasn't exactly fun to think she had to start from the beginning with people she knew-but-didn't-know.

"That's one problem I've always had with Forks, no one ever comes here..."

Actually, there were a few new kids. Mike Newton moved in fifth grade, and then Emmett Cullen and Rosalie Hale came a few years ago, but they were seniors this year.

"Tell me about these seniors?"

Carlisle and Esme Cullen moved here just before Bella started high school. Rosalie was her niece, she thought, and Emmett was a foster kid, but apparently they were dating.

"Well that's... strange."

Oh yes, it was strange. Lots of _Game of Thrones_ jokes - "or should we say Rosalie Lannister?" Especially since Rosalie was a gorgeous blonde who didn't look sixteen in the least.

"So they just... hang out with each other?"

No friends, indeed.

"Well, Bella, I know it's tricky, but why don't you start asking people for help with homework, and then chat a little, and maybe watch movies or TV together?"

So that was what she did, during her junior year, and by the next time she saw Rachel, they both had plenty to tell each other. Of course, when two people are talking to each other, each of people the other has never met, it's a little cross-purposes, but it didn't really matter. Unfortunately for Bella, Rachel only spent two weeks in August at home, as she had taken courses over the summer term as well.

It really wasn't as horrible as Bella had thought it would be. Angela, Jessica and Lauren were all fairly friendly with her, as were Ben, Tyler, Mike, Conner and Eric. She and her dad went to the Blacks for Sunday dinner once a month, and she sometimes even hung out with Jake and Embry (Quil having discovered girls who put out, and put Bella in the category of girls who didn't). She took her SATs and got letters of recommendation from her English teacher. She applied to every in-state school, and a few out-of-state that she thought she could afford, and even a few faux-Ivy schools that her counselor mentioned had good aid packages.

And she had a truck that was breaking down. Her dad bought it for her when she got her license, from Uncle Billy, but really, from Jake. He looked it over every couple of months, and that morning she noted that it was making "that noise" again, so left a message that she would need Jake to check it out soon. At lunch, she'd checked her messages, and Jake had responded "come by 2nite."

So after letting her dad know, she drove to the Black's. Jake seemed to get taller every time she saw him, and he happily picked her up and swung her in a circle. Quil and Embry simply shook her hand. What with summer road trips, visiting Renee and Rachel, she hadn't seen much of "her boys" since May, and she was struck with a certain thought:

"Damn, these guys are HOT."

She felt a stab of guilt; they were only sophomores, after all. Granted, Bella wasn't quite eighteen, but she remembered freshman year, a senior girl was dating a junior guy - the junior guy was actually only a few months younger, just born after the cut-off, like Bella - and the gossip was quite nasty, leading to a breakup before Thanksgiving. Not that she really wanted to date Embry or Quil, and Jake was like her brother, but they were still kind of ... beautiful.

While they inspected her truck, Bella searched for a snack. Rachel had made sure to buy fruit when she was home, but there appeared to be only a couple of blackberries left. At least no one had eaten all the yogurt. Billy was reading a novel on the couch, splayed, but invited Bella, sitting up to make room for her.

"Have you heard from Rachel?" she asked.

"Not really. I think you hear from her more than I do. She doesn't really like to be reminded of here so much."

It was true; Rachel had insisted that if she came back to La Push again, it would only be to see Bella. "I know. Um, how about Becky? I don't hear much from her."

He smiled. "Becky is still madly in love with David - and Maui - and couldn't be happier. I think they're talking about having kids soon."

"Really? I can't really picture her as a mom." Bella had been to their wedding, and could still hardly even realize she was married. She was only nineteen, after all, and Bella had had it hammered into her head not to get married till after getting a college degree. Renee would never have gotten married if she'd finished college, she ranted, and Bella was quite aware that if her parents had been smarter, she herself would probably not exist. Her parents made her feel loved, so it didn't upset her to realize it.

Quil ran inside. "Hey Bella, I think Jake's got it working."

Bella smiled at Billy before going outside to test the truck. Embry was waving bye as she started the truck. "Thanks ever so much, Jake, you're a total lifesaver."

"Hey, no problem. You wanna stay for dinner? I was gonna fry up some burgers."

"Sure thing."

"Well, I guess I better get home too," said Quil, patting Jake on the shoulder.

Jake was frowning as Bella followed him inside. She helped cutting up the vegetables and toasting the buns, and asked him if anything was wrong.

"Well... did you notice how Embry cut his hair?"

She had noticed, but Quil had always kept his short. "Is that a big deal?"

"I don't know. Um, do you know Sam Uley?"

"Not really. I mean, he's Leah's boyfriend, but she hates me."

He barked a single laugh. "He kinda started this gang. Everyone in it buzzed their hair real short - him and Paul and Jared. I mean, I don't think it's a real 'gang', Dad acts like it's more of a tribal initiation thing? But all the guys used to be totally cool, and now they only hang out with each other. Embry doesn't have a dad, you know, and -" He broke off, flipping two patties.

"So you think he's trying to join?"

"Well, it sounds like they told him no, but shit, you should see the way Sam looks at me and Quil. It's fuckin' creepy," he complained.

"How long has this been going on?"

"Well Sam, he cut his hair like a year ago, but Paul and Jared started hanging out with him this summer. June, I guess, yeah."

Bella only knew Sam through Leah, but she remembered he had longer hair than she did. Apparently her brother Seth told Jake about the fights they started having after his haircut. "He'd sneak out without telling her anything, but the tribal council verified that he was with them. Leah totally went after every female, married or single, to threaten them," he snickered. "She's a firecracker."

"But he was telling the truth, he wasn't cheating?"

He snickered again. "Unless it was with Paul and Jared, I don't think he was, no." But the laughter didn't seem to touch his eyes. "Even if it isn't, I don't exactly think I want to be part of whatever the hell it is."

"Is Billy concerned at all?" she asked in a low voice as they set the table.

"No, he just smirks and says to be patient, as if I want to join the damn gang," he muttered.

She squeezed his hand. "You don't have to do anything you don't want to."

"I hope so," he whispered, then walked over to call his dad to dinner.


	3. Chapter 3

_**Chapter 3**_

Edward found it quite amusing how many people were being "neighborly" and dropping by to see "who bought the new Lawson place." He didn't exactly find it as amusing that everyone thought they were a gay couple, but it was easier than explaining why exactly he didn't date, so he hadn't bothered to correct anyone who had dropped by since yesterday.

Today Jasper was working on getting their Internet working, so Edward had answered the doorbells. Not that everyone in town had dropped by, or anything like that, but the realtor must have told everyone she knew. He supposed it was strange to see a "young gay couple" moving into Forks, but he insisted that he and Jasper loved the outdoors and the lack of snow, as well as being close to the ocean.

Of course, it was a bit tricky being close to humans when you hadn't had a proper meal in a few weeks. They probably should call Carlisle once the Internet was working - at the least he could tell them some good places to hunt. Big game tasted better than small, and anything would taste better than those awful raccoons. He remembered that being around humans was easier that way, although there was only one way of getting rid of that throat burn.

Suddenly the doorbell rang. "Way to go, telepath," snarked Jasper.

Edward was shocked. He checked, and yes, there was someone at the door - someone stupid, apparently. Well, perhaps not stupid, he had read the minds of morons, and they thought thoughts, just not very original ones. So what was this? Someone who had ... murky... thoughts? Perhaps it was like that one vampire who could block him fully - this must be what her thoughts would have been like as a human.

He walked towards the door and checked himself. "Jasper?"

"What?"

"Can you smell that?"

He sniffed. "It's a human. What the hell, man. Blocking you?"

"It smells really good to me," he explained.

Jasper suddenly focused his empathic powers on Edward. "Holy hell, boy, you best sit tight. Go to the basement."

"No, I think - I'll just stop breathing and see if I can get the laptops working."

Jasper grunted his assent, put in some brown colored contact lenses, and opened the door.

A teenage girl with a newspaper and her father stood on the porch. "Hello," he said. "I'm Charlie Swan, and this is my daughter Bella. We live about three doors down, thought we come to welcome you."

"Pleasure to meet you, sir, my name's Jasper Whitlock. That there yonder's Edward Masen, but he's a mite busy fussin' with the network."

"Hello," Edward managed to wheeze out. Two people? He replayed the past few minutes in his head, and in fact, yes, there had been two heartbeats and footsteps and breathing patterns, two people walking to their door. He couldn't exactly verify, but it seemed that it was the man whose thoughts were murky. Which meant that he couldn't read the daughter's thoughts. At all. So it probably was a genetic-witch-sort-of-thing. He was actually the local police chief, and quite certain that the two of them were "queer".

"Very nice to meet you, I thought you two might like a copy of the paper? Since you just moved here?" The girl sounded cheerful.

"Why that's mighty thoughtful of you, Miss Bella," said Jasper, taking the paper. He hadn't attempted to shake their hands, which was probably for the best. Jasper didn't seem to find Bella as delectable as Edward, but why take chances? "We bought this house yesterday," he began, gave the spiel about the wilderness and the ocean, invented a relative who died for a windfall, and ended with the truth: "After living in Montreal the past few years, it seemed the right thing to do."

"Well you better behave, don't drive that fancy British car too fast," Charlie joked. "See you two around."

"Not professionally, I hope, sir, g'night." Jasper flashed a friendly smile.

"Nice to meet you." Bella returned his smile and tried to catch a glimpse of Edward, but since his eyes weren't properly drained of red, he turned his head away from her. She gave up, closed the door, and Edward finally resumed breathing.

"Damnation, it's the girl. She smells - O God! - so good. And can you believe it, her mind isn't there for me, at all, not one bit!"

"Like Elis?" asked Jasper, referring to the vampire who had blocked him and Aro.

He shook his head. "I could tell Elis was there, like a wall. Bella is like... like walking in a marsh, where it looks like grass, but actually water. Can't even tell it's there."

 _His singer is undetectable to him!_ "Well, I could read her feelin's, but they were kinda basic. Usually humans are easier, but she reads like she's a vamp already."

"Ugh, a singer down the road, just what I needed. At least the 'net's up."

"Well, think you better call on your sire?"

"Definitely. Do you want to come with me? He's probably still at the hospital."

Jasper shook his head. "Really don't want to be around bleedin' people, y'know?"

"Good point. I'll ask him to come by, then." He pulled out his cell and dialed the number for Doctor Cullen's office.

A once-familiar voice answered. "This is Dr. Cullen."

"Hello, um, this is Edward. Masen," he added unnecessarily.

"Ed - Edward? Edward _Masen_? Are you - wait, are you _here_?"

"Uh, yes, I just moved to Forks." He gave his address. "Just past the Swans?"

"Yes, the old Lawson place, I know - why - I'll just come over after my last patient, is that all right?"

"Certainly, see you soon."

He put his phone away. "So he's coming over."

Jasper took out his contacts. "I happen to have excellent hearing, thanks."

They read their email while they waited for Carlisle to arrive, and it wasn't more than two hours before the doorbell rang again. "Come on in!"

Carlisle entered. Vampire memory was supposed to be perfect, yet it still surprised Edward that Carlisle looked just as he remembered. Just under six feet, blond, attractive in the vampire manner - and his eyes were golden-honey. Jasper fixated on them. _I have to get that_ , he swore to himself.

Edward stood up as Carlisle approached then embraced him. "Edward, my God, it's been so long." _His eyes. At least they aren't pure red._ "What have you been doing with yourself?"

"Jasper and I work with the Volturi. Aro sends his best; he misses you and often thinks of you."

The Volturi? "Did they send you here?"

Edward nodded. "We're establishing another outpost in Seattle. Well, here, really, but the main address will be Seattle. That's what we do. We just set one up in Montreal."

"Jasper Whitlock sir, very good to meet you." They shook hands. "We look over cities and areas to verify vampire behavior. If anything looks too obvious, we alert the big guns."

"So you - I'm sorry. How long have you been doing this?"

He was asking Edward - concerned. Almost disturbed. "Well, you know I met Jasper after I - left. I tried to find him again, after Rosalie killed those men, and I found the Volturi. Jasper's dam, Maria, had created some newborns so they could kill him, and they made enough of a stir for them. It was Jane, Alec, Eleazar and Demetri."

"Yes, Eleazar told me he met you when he met Carmen." She had been one of the newborns, and Eleazar and her turned out to be mates. He had been curious enough about Edward and Carlisle to go to Alaska, where the other "vegetarian" coven had lived.

"Are they still there? Perhaps Jasper and I should pay them a visit."

"Please, continue," said Carlisle.

"Well, they, they tortured Maria to find out why she had acted in such a reckless manner, and she told them about Jasper, and I - I'd been eavesdropping, you see, but after they actually killed her, I was terrified that Jasper was next, so I ran up them and announced 'Carlisle Cullen says hello!'"

Jasper was grinning to beat the band, and Carlisle started chuckling himself. "And that worked?"

"Didn't Eleazar tell you that part?"

"No!" He laughed again.

"Well, anyway, we convinced each other that no harm would be coming to Jasper, and after finding him, Eleazar went to Denali, and Jasper and I went to Italy. Jasper was fine with joining, but I wanted a more active role, so Aro and I hammered out the whole outpost idea. Any vampire that kills enough to make people suspicious, I track, Jasper immobilizes, and we either send him to Aro -"

"Or send 'em to God," drawled Jasper.

"I - I see."

"Oh calm down Carlisle, we called you because we want tips on your diet," said Edward, exasperated.

"Oh! Truly?"

"That's right, sir."

"Please, call me Carlisle."

Edward grinned. "He calls Aro 'sir' too. Of course, Aro likes it."

Carlisle chuckled. "So neither of you found mates, I assume?" He was remembering Rosalie. He turned Rosalie partly in hopes that at least Edward would want to stay for her, but neither of them really liked each other much. Apparently Rosalie was mated now, however, with the last vampire Carlisle created, a large dark-haired man called Emmett.

"Please, don't ever try to set me up again," he laughed.

"I don't know, I wouldn't mind meeting some women," said Jasper.

"None of the Denali coven?" asked Edward, but saw Irina in Carlisle's memories, holding hands with a dark-skinned vampire called Laurent. "All right Jasper, how does this sound? Two vegetarian vampire women, single, who encouraged the legend of the succubi."

"Sounds like a good Friday night."

"Back to the main topic. Should we go hunting with you tonight? We do try, you see, but haven't gotten the percentages to your level."

Carlisle smiled. "Why don't you come by tomorrow after moonrise? Esme will be delighted, and I'm certain you'll enjoy meeting Emmett, and seeing Rosalie again." He shook Jasper's hand again, and embraced Edward. "So good to see you again," he whispered before leaving.

"Well, all things considered, I like your sire better'n mine."

"You like Jane more than you liked Maria."

"That ain't the point," he said, and spat for emphasis. His mind went to that dark, hateful, lusty place that meant _Maria_ to him. The Volturi's killing of her was reason enough for him to join them, but his emotions had never really settled. Edward suspected they never would, unless he did end up finding a mate. Jasper had never forgiven her while she lived, and didn't see how with her dead.

He decided to distract him again. "Well, it should be fun to hunt with Carlisle."

Jasper grinned, grateful for the new subject. "Hunting animals is pretty fun, I gotta say. If only they didn't taste like ass."

"True, but the pure physical challenge of tracking prey for hours - and then their thoughts won't bother us when we do catch them."

He nodded. "That'll be great. What should we do tonight?"

"Well, we haven't scented any vampires, but that doesn't mean they aren't around."

Jasper stared at him as if he were insane. "How long has Carlisle been living here?"

"Ummm... over two years?"

"Then there won't be any vampires around here. And we shouldn't go anywhere populous, where they might actually be, till we've been on this new diet awhile."

Edward actually blinked. "I hadn't thought of that," he admitted.

"That's why I'm here," said Jasper, smirking.


	4. Chapter 4

_**Author's note: I know vampires are supposed to be "frozen" mentally at the time of death, but that would make Jasper a horrible racist. So they can change their minds, but just like humans, it takes either a notable event, or a lot of thinking.**_

 _ **Chapter 4**_

Edward rolled his eyes at Jasper. "Oh, I was distracted with the whole singer thing, but the Forks police chief also thinks we're a couple."

Jasper chuckled. "Good thing we're gonna go establish your bonafides with the Denalis this weekend, huh?"

Edward hesitated. "I know I've asked you this before, but..."

"What's it like to suck a cock?"

"My God, you're so childish sometimes."

"Hey, you're the one who said the Chief thinks we're queer."

"What I was going to ask was, have you ever been in love?"

"Oh! Hm. Nah, I don't think so."

"Ah. Well. Neither have I."

Jasper stared at him. "You're embarrassed. Why would you be embarrassed about that? I just said I hadn't been in love - or did you mean while human? I did have a lady when I was human, a girl I was courtin' before I joined the service."

Edward faked a laugh. "I wasn't really thinking of girls back then. My mother had her hands full convincing me not to run away to Canada to join the army. Why didn't your mother care about that?"

"You trying to say something about my mother?" Jasper's projecting of emotions didn't usually happen unless he tried, but the one exception was if someone asked him about his human family.

"Jasper! Calm down!" Edward snapped, feeling the feedback of Jasper's anger.

"Oh, dammit, sorry." He was still a bit angry, but he managed to project calmness again. "There, how's'at?"

"Better. I didn't mean to impugn your mother, Jasper, you know that. I was more curious about the opinions she held, culturally speaking."

"A'right, well... you told me once you're an only child."

"I ... I was..."

"Parents tried to have more kids?"

He nodded. "I remember something from when I was very young - I think my mother had a miscarriage."

"That explains why she wanted you to be a vampire, then."

"Jasper! You know she didn't actually think that!"

He tossed off his most charming grin. "Course not. First vampires I ever saw, I almost thought they were angels. Boy, was I wrong!" He flinched from his memory of Maria and her coven.

Edward decided to help distract him. "You see, I didn't realize it at the time, but most Americans were very against joining the First War. Even the Second, until Pearl Harbor, I think. But at the time, I was never sure if my mother was an Isolationist, or just worried about her only child."

Jasper nodded slowly. "I was stupid enough to think that it was a State's Rights issue. I didn't know anyone who owned slaves anyway, but I thought that the Confederacy didn't ought to belong to the North if it didn't want to. Still don't really know how I feel about it, except that no soul can be owned." _Being a slave will convince you of that._

"And that was what your parents thought?" asked Edward, anxious to keep the topic off Maria. "States' Rights, I mean?"

He shrugged. "White rights for whites, anyway, and I was the third son. They wouldn't have wanted Obadiah to join the Army, I'll admit that, but then he was already married. I know it would have been shocking for you to do it, but joining at sixteen wasn't such a big deal then, especially since I'm such a charismatic cocksucker."

Edward's phone rang. Jasper wondered who it was, as did Edward, and they laughed when they recognized the number as Carlisle's office.

"Hello?"

"Hello, sorry, I forgot to ask for the number."

Edward rattled it off. "Was there any particular reason you wanted it?"

"Well, yes. You see, after Emmett joined us, we moved here to Forks, in the 1930s."

"And someone's still alive who recognized you?"

"Well, yes, actually. Quil Ateara, one of the Quileutes - the local Indian tribe in La Push - which is the main point. You have to keep out of La Push. I'll show you a map when you come by tomorrow."

Edward tried not to laugh. "Is this one of those things where indigenous people have true legends about vampires, so we have to keep off their land in case they recognize us?"

Jasper was sniggering too. "Pale face is very, very pale!"

"That's very rude, Jasper, I can hear you. And it's much worse than that. When we got here in the 1930s, there was a pack of werewolves."

The laughter stopped dead. "You're not serious."

"I suppose they wouldn't be considered traditional werewolves, but shape-shifters, as they aren't affected by silver and the moon, but they were in fact humans who could change into giant wolves."

"What the FUCK?" mouthed Jasper.

"So, tribal magic? Just a coincidence that they change into the only thing that can hurt vampires?"

"Well, you see, that's the thing. Emmett was attacked by one, and -"

Edward dropped the phone.

Jasper picked it up.

"Hello? Hello?" Carlisle was saying.

"Well how 'bout that," Jasper drawled, "you finally got Edward Masen to shut the hell up."

"He's surprised, isn't he," fretted Carlisle. "I shouldn't have just dropped it like that."

"I don't really think there's any other way of saying that Emmett was attacked by a damn giant wolf that wasn't actually a werewolf, though, do you?"

"Perhaps not." Carlisle was quiet for a minute. "The magic could have turned them into bears, or coyotes, or mountain lions, but it turned them into wolves. I truly did think it was a coincidence, but -"

"But it's a good thing you never told Caius about this here 'coincidence', if you don't want the whole damn tribe wiped out, ain't it?" asked Jasper in his drawl.

"Well, it is true that they can damage vampires, and are faster, but..."

"Holy sheeeee-it! You're telling me those 'shape-shifters' are faster than a vamp?" _Impossible!_

"There were three of them, and four of us. If I hadn't been there, I don't know what would have happened," said Carlisle in his quiet, calm voice.

"Why Carlisle Cullen! Did you actually make a treaty with them folk? Them folk that tribal magic created purely to kill vampires?"

"Well, yes," he admitted. "That's why I called, to tell you two about the treaty."

And so he explained the boundaries that held either of the two groups, and the main thing: no one who signed the treaty could bite a human, else they forfeited their lives.

"Well thanks fer tellin' us that part."

Edward nodded, frightened. If they hadn't already agreed to keep "vegetarian" - if they hadn't had practice -

"Wait," said Edward. "This was in the '30s, after I was gone, right?"

"Yes, 1937, actually," said Carlisle.

"And one of them is still alive? Or - wait, don't tell me, they have extra-long lifespans."

"Why, yes, how did you know?"

Edward groaned. "Oh, I just thought, _what's the worst that could be true,_ and there it was."

Carlisle coughed. "I believe it is possible for them to quit changing into werewolves, and then they resume a normal human lifespan. That is to say, only one of the old pack is still alive, and he is a rather old man. But if you're trying to find out if there are any werewolves at all present now, the answer is yes."

"Oh, so you were wrong, Eddie, _that's_ the worst possible news. Thanks, Carlisle."

"I'm sorry, I just -"

"It's fine, it's better to know than not," interjected Edward with a glare at Jasper. "Do you know how many?"

"As far as I know, three."

Three. Everyone in Carlisle's coven had signed the treaty, so that meant, if it came to a fight, it would be two versus three. "But there could be more."

"It is possible. During the summer, the new alpha came to me, to ask if we wanted the treaty to still hold. But since then, who knows what may have happened?"

"Would they tell you if there were more?"

Carlisle hesitated. "It isn't part of the treaty. And I am fairly certain that it is the actual presence of vampires that triggers the change in those of the line."

"But since y'all've been keepin' to the treaty, it had to be some random vamp that triggered 'em in the first place, right?"

"That is what Uley suspects, yes."

"I mean, did they kill this guy or not?"

"Not the first one, no. There was almost a year between the first trigger and the second, so it's probably not the same one."

"Can't they tell?"

"Jasper, you have to remember, the whole tribe was fully human - as far as they knew - till the first vampire passed through their land. While they now can distinguish vampires by their smell, they couldn't before changing fully."

"Makes sense. Sorry, I don't really hang out with humans so much to remember that kinda thing."

Vampires all smelled differently to each other, and they could also differentiate humans by scent, but of course humans couldn't do such a thing. It wouldn't have been that crazy to think werewolves - even pre-changed - could do so, if it was something they inherited.

"Well, I did ask, and no, they only attacked the second one, and that was mainly because he'd actually attacked the tribe rather than just passing through."

"And they killed him."

Pause. "Yes."

"Do you think we should tell Caius about this?"

"Well, I would prefer it if the Volturi didn't wipe out the tribe," he said wearily. "The treaty worked the last time we were here, and we probably will be leaving in another year or two. You two plan to have the main outpost in Seattle proper, correct?"

"Yes, it's just easier for us to live in a low-population area," said Edward.

"Then if you keep to the treaty, there shouldn't be a problem."

"Well, thanks for the warnin', Carlisle. See you tomorrow night."

"Goodnight then."

Edward stared at Jasper. "You think we shouldn't tell Caius?"

"Hell, I don't know, but I didn't want to tell Carlisle that. Besides, we have something more important to worry about right now."

"We do?"

Jasper sighed, and replayed the meeting of the Swans. _Your singer, remember?_

"Oh. Yes." His singer - and the second person ever to be immune to him.


	5. Chapter 5

_**Chapter 5**_

One of the best things about being a vampire, Edward felt, was having photographic memory. It was possible to replay a few days' worth of events, exactly as they happened, but sped up about fifty times' faster. About two days to an hour. In theory, if Edward had nothing to do for two years, he could re-watch his entire life. Unfortunately, he did.

"So you want me to replay the most boring movie of all time?"

"Not all of it, but it'll be faster if we both do it," he replied.

"You know, one day we should just type all this out in a text file or somethin' more searchable," complained Jasper. "What exactly are we looking for?"

Edward sighed. "I don't know if it would really help in this case. Everything I remember right now about singers leads me to believe that no one else has ever really resisted eating one, unless maybe there were witnesses."

Jasper mentally played a trial back just too fast enough for Edward to catch the entirety - his telepathy didn't seem to have the same vampiric speed as his other senses - but he realized it was for a vampire who had eaten her singer in front of human witnesses. Aro had been sympathetic, but not so much that he'd let her live.

"Wonderful. Perfect."

"You're bein' an idiot. Why don't you just ask Aro?"

"You mean, ask the man who happens to have memories of hundreds and hundreds of vampires?" It was obvious; Edward couldn't believe he'd missed it.

 _It's your biggest weakness. You think you have to do everything yourself._

"Not true, I asked you for help," he countered.

"Good thing I'm too lazy to actually do anything to help you, then."

Edward growled, and Jasper laughed, even after Edward pushed him hard enough to fall onto the sofa, he kept laughing. Edward gave it up for a lost cause and went for his phone.

Gianna answered, and Edward gave the password that would let him speak to Aro. It took almost thirty minutes, but finally he picked up.

"Edward, how lovely to hear from you!" He always said that, even when he must have suspected bad news.

"So, the good news is that Carlisle Cullen lives here in Forks."

"Carlisle? Really?" His typically-dreamy voice had turned to steel. "Perhaps I should visit."

Edward cringed. "The bad news is, the local head of law enforcement has a daughter that I - well, she seems to be my singer."

"Seems to be? You mean to say you let her live?"

"Yes, that seemed to be the wisest decision," he snapped.

"True, true, never a good idea to get the police suspicious."

"So I was calling to ask for advice."

"Advice? From me?" He sounded dreamy again. "I would advise not eating her, if at all possible, in that case."

Edward pinched the bridge of his nose, extremely glad this conversation wasn't in person. "And do you have any experiences you can share with me on not eating a singer?"

"My boy, you did meet her and avoid it, did you not?"

"I was holding my breath and ignoring her the whole time!"

"Ah, yes, that would be the best thing..."

Edward ignored Jasper's snickering. "Anything else?"

"Complete avoidance seems best, yes."

"So we should leave Forks entirely?"

"Mmmm, that seems a bit hasty, don't you think? Can you tell me anything else about this girl?"

Edward thought. "Bella Swan, daughter of Charlie Swan, looks to be about sixteen or so... and I can't hear her thoughts."

"What?" His voice was once again steel. "Are you certain?"

"Of course, why do you ask?"

"Because, my dear boy, Demetri met a girl named Bella five years ago, and he could not detect her either."

Jasper sat up, stunned. He and Edward stared at each other, remembering the conversation with Demetri.

"And you think this might be the same girl?"

"Highly likely, don't you think? Demetri only discovered that she lived somewhere besides with her mother, and she was twelve then. What are the odds that there are two humans of the right age, one immune to you, one immune to Demetri?"

"I see what you mean..."

"I can ask her," said Jasper. "I'll follow her to the grocery store and say she reminds me of someone I met once, called Renee."

"And then what? Turn her?" asked Edward. "The same problem applies."

Aro laughed. "Don't be so foolish. Remember our laws."

 _Oh, that's right, she already knows vampires exist._ "So we explain it to her, and figure out a way to vanish her," mused Jasper.

"But what about me?"

"If this is indeed the same human, you must at all costs avoid eating her."

Edward sighed. "I understand. There, uh, might be another problem, though."

"Oh?"

"The local Native American tribe has a sort of magic that enables them to kill vampires." Edward chose his words carefully. "Carlisle and his coven have signed a treaty, but if we bite any humans around here, they're bound to find out."

"And kill whoever turned her? How large is their ... operating radius? Could you take her to Volterra without repercussions?"

"Normally I would say yes, but, remember that she mentioned a friend of her father's who knew about vampires?"

"Ah yes. So, you fear that man would use his magics to avenge a family friend."

"Something like that."

Jasper spoke up. "What if we don't bite her?"

"You mean, not change her?"

"No, I mean, it's venom that changes you, right? What if we get venom in her without biting her?"

Edward's jaw dropped. He'd never have thought of that. He wondered if Carlisle had.

"Well, if you think that this man would be fine with such a loophole, feel free to suggest it, but otherwise, I don't know if it's the best idea," said Aro.

"It's actually not a bad idea," said Edward slowly. "We can turn them more easily that way, in general, if it works."

"True. I'll have it attempted the next time it is needed. If it works, would you like a reward, Jasper?"

Jasper grinned. "I'll find me a Corvette Stingray and send you the bill."

"That would certainly seem appropriate."

Edward spoke up. "So, after we explain it to her, maybe the tribe could consider that to be a loophole. I mean, turning a human of their own free will, why attack?"

"Again, if you think that would work."

"Well, they know Carlisle, so they can't think every single vampire is their enemy. And if this girl isn't even around afterwards, how could they object?"

"You seem rather certain that she will agree, Edward."

Edward paused. "Well, yes, why wouldn't she? Do you know any vampires who regret their change?"

"You mean, besides Carlisle?"

"Carlisle doesn't... I mean, he isn't..." Edward knew that Carlisle had tried to starve himself to death when he first turned, but after all this time, surely he enjoyed his life? "Why wouldn't he just have you kill him if he hated it so much?"

"Oh, he doesn't hate it that much, of course. But he has led a rather lonely existence."

"I suppose, but he has Esme now." A twinge. The jealousy he had felt when Carlisle rescued Esme had been a large factor in his decision to leave. After all this time, one would think he'd have gotten over it. He remembered fights and her frowns, but feelings just didn't seem to attach to the memories, beyond the jealousy.

"Very true. I suppose it is possible that Bella Swan will find a mate among the many of us in Volterra."

Now, why did that make him feel another twinge? Even Jasper seemed to wonder. "That may not be an inducement for a human, however."

"Humans no longer believe in love at first sight, do they?" He sighed as if he couldn't understand the lack of romance in the world. "But between the two of you, I suspect you can make her see the advantages."

"Certainly. I don't see why anyone wouldn't want to be a vampire, honestly."

"Then let me know if this is the Bella that Demetri met, and the progress you make."

"Certainly," he repeated, and they hung up.

Jasper let out another bark of laughter. "You don't see why anyone wouldn't want to be a vampire! Oh Lordy, listen to yourself!"

"Shut. Up."

"You - you thought - you thought you were damned to hell!" he gasped between laughs.

"Do I have to pull out your tongue?"

"No, no, just - just give a minute -"

Edward fumed till the laughter burnt itself out. "It was a perfectly reasonable belief."

"For a belief, I guess. It took like an hour to convince you it was moronic."

"Newborns are morons, what else can I say?"

"Well, let's make sure this Bella isn't as stupid as newborn you."


	6. Chapter 6

_**Chapter 6**_

Edward and Carlisle had picked a spot near the base of Mt. Olympus to meet the next night, although only Emmett showed up.

"The ladies aren't hungry," apologized Carlisle, but he was attempting to recite Bible verses in his head - to Edward, this was a clear sign that he wanted to hide something.

Jasper couldn't care less. "Jasper Whitlock," he said as he shook hands with the rather large vampire.

"Emmett McCarty," he said in flat American accent, but his next sentence dropped it. "I hear y'uns fru' the South?"

"Unfortunately Edward Masen here has not that privilege," replied Jasper, in an even-thicker-than-normal drawl.

 _But you're the one who reads minds, right?_

"Yes, that's correct," said Edward aloud.

"Motherfucking awesome!" crowed Emmett. "Carlisle and Rosie told me all about you, up to 1930 or so anyway."

Edward grimaced. " _Rosie_?"

 _She doesn't really let anyone else call her that. Is it true you didn't want to bang her?_

Edward gritted his teeth. "I would hardly contradict a lady, Emmett."

 _Well she was a little annoyed about it, since you're like, the only dude she ever met who wasn't into her. Even Carlisle thought she was a knockout, you know._

"Then why are you even asking me?"

"Hey now, these one-way conversations ain't very polite," Jasper broke in.

"I would prefer that the subject at hand not be spoken aloud, thank you."

"Oh, damn, Emmett, you should know," here Jasper dropped to a whisper, "Edward's a little sensitive about S-E-X." A whisper that even Carlisle couldn't hear, but since Edward was a telepath, it only served to aggravate him even more.

"Thank you, Jasper!"

 _Well how's he gonna know to shut up about it otherwise?_

"Because he hasn't found his mate?" asked Emmett.

"Yeah, that too," said Jasper as he put on a shit-eating grin.

"Can we shut up about my sex life and move on to dinner?" begged Edward.

"Sure! We're bound to find some bears around here." Emmett cheerily described his favorite methods for hunting. Jasper listened avidly, but Edward was less focused. After all, he and Carlisle had hunted for over a decade together before Esme even joined the coven.

He was getting excited, though. He hadn't been able to fully re-embrace the animal diet since leaving Carlisle again, and Emmett apparently hadn't tasted human blood since he was a newborn. Nor had Esme, and while Rosalie had killed the men who brutally took her life, she had never tasted them or anyone else.

"All right, Team Bear versus Team Cougar!" shouted Emmett, high-fiving Jasper, Edward and Carlisle in turn.

Jasper went off with Emmett, while Carlisle and Edward scented for mountain lion. Carlisle had told Emmett, apparently, that as a newborn Edward was fond of the taste. He hadn't actually tried to specifically hunt any in ages - in urban areas it was easier to feed on rats when he wanted golden eyes - so he wasn't sure if the taste would be as good as he remembered, pre-human feeding.

Fortunately, the skills came back to him. Hunting with Carlisle - in a way, it was almost as if he'd never left. They spoke little, Carlisle willing to follow his lead after the scent was caught.

"Can you tell me why the women really didn't want to come?" asked Edward softly as they tracked their prey.

Carlisle sighed. "They don't think you have a proper respect for human life, since you work for the Volturi."

"That's ridiculous! The Volturi don't care about our weird feeding habits. And besides, Jasper and I don't even work in the city, so they barely affect us."

"But you have met Chelsea?"

"Of course we've met -" Edward broke off. "That's it, isn't it? That's the real reason - I mean, Rosalie and I never liked each other anyway, but I remember Esme being fond of me."

"She was concerned about your reaction, yes. You once cared for both of us, you know. I could tell yesterday that you didn't feel the same way about me that you once did."

Edward stopped running, came to a halt. "I don't?"

"It didn't seem that way to me, at least."

Edward sighed. Chelsea had the power to strengthen or weaken relationship bonds - except for vampire mate bonds - and the first step to joining the Volturi was to meet Chelsea and Marcus. Marcus could see the bonds, and understand what each one meant, even the ones joining people who weren't present. Chelsea's power was more touch-based, so she depended upon Marcus to tell her which bonds were which. So that meeting would lead to Chelsea cutting every bond leading elsewhere, and strengthen every bond leading to other guards. It was part of why Edward and Jasper had become close friends, even beyond being on assignment together; every time they were back in Volterra, Chelsea strengthened their friendship, to the point that they felt as close as true brothers.

But the flipside, of course, was that the feelings he had once had for Esme and Carlisle, likewise had been broken. He was learning to respect the man again, but it was true, Edward didn't have the natural inclination that a vampire tended to have towards a sire.

"On further reflection, I believe you are correct about Chelsea eliminating my - affection - towards you and Esme. But you may tell her that Jasper and I would both enjoy her company. And - if Rosalie still likes cars - her as well," he admitted.

Carlisle raised his eyebrows. The man had an rather expressive face for a vampire; Edward supposed it was because he actually spent most of his days interacting with humans. "Rosalie actually is in charge of our automobiles. Picks them out, rebuilds their engines, you name it. Is that something you've become interested in?"

"Not the nuts and bolts part, I do enjoy driving, but that's about it. It's Jasper who is, well, obsessed with American muscle cars and such. He mocks me for driving a British car, in fact."

Carlisle chuckled. "I drive because I have to, but I really prefer running. I think I'll never be quite accustomed to the vehicle as a concept."

"Miss the stagecoach?"

"Oh, no, not at all. That is the main benefit to the automobile - horses would never stand still for me after my change."

"Animals know better."

The words reminded Carlisle of their business at hand, and they continued tracking their prey. Neither of them said anything till Edward took down the mountain lion, just before Carlisle arrived.

"You're still too fast for me."

"Sorry, I forget the etiquette of something like this - was I supposed to let you have first bite?"

Carlisle shook his head. "We'll share."

After they had drained the beast, Carlisle looked Edward over. _You're a bit of a mess._

"I wore clothes I didn't care about, but yes, out of practice with large carnivores." The claws had thoroughly ripped Edward's shirt, but apparently there was only blood on his face. He licked what he could, and used the remains of his shirt to wipe the rest. "I have to admit it tastes better than raccoons."

"I've always had a preference for deer, but the rest of the family seem to find carnivores more appetizing."

More appetizing than deer, but not more than - "Oh, God."

"Edward?"

"I suppose I ought to tell you, Jasper seems to think my singer lives in Forks."

" _La tua cantante_?"

"Exactly. Bella Swan."

Carlisle's jaw dropped. "I must tell you that I would not be pleased if any harm were to come to the girl." Pictures flew through his mind, of Bella in a full lower body cast, recovering in the hospital. "She was hit by a van last year, causing major fractures in her pelvis - I've been her primary care physician since, and I feel for her as if I were her uncle."

"Like you cared for me?" asked Edward softly.

"I suppose you could say that," mused Carlisle. "But her parents are both alive, and would be devastated were anything to happen to her. Do you understand me?"

Edward gave his hair a yank. "I don't have any more desire to end her life than you do, but I'm a bit at a loose end here! Aro couldn't even tell me what to do!"

"You told Aro?"

"Of course I told Aro, he's thousands of years old, and has memories of thousands of others. I thought if anyone knew how to avoid killing a singer, he would!"

 _But he didn't... Because almost no other vampires care about human life._

"And yes, I'm also aware that her father is the damn police chief! I don't know what to DO!" yelled Edward in pure frustration.

Carlisle put a hand on his shoulder. _Calm down, son, I'll give you whatever help you need._

Edward tried not to wince - it's not as if Carlisle could help thinking of him as his son - and simply nodded. "Like what?"

"First, tell me why you think she's your singer."

Edward described the meeting with the Swans, starting from the smell, and deciding not to breathe, till they left.

"And you could smell her after she left?"

"Of course. Scents don't fade that quickly."

"But you didn't want to chase after her?"

"Well, of course I did, but I was too overwhelmed to follow through. And then Jasper told me to call you and I..."

Carlisle's smile was shining. "You got used to it, enough that you could do other things, at least."

"I ... suppose I did."

"Tell me, have you heard of desensitization therapy?" At Edward's negative, he explained the basics, as it would work for someone with a spider phobia. "Or you could think of it as a vaccine. Building up immunity, so to speak."

"I think I understand, but..."

"We would have to have someone with you at all times," he said quickly. "Emmett would be best, as he's actually attended school with her and never even mentioned her scent to me."

"What about Rosalie?"

 _Does he actually want to spend time with Rosalie?_ "Well, I think Emmett would find it easier to stop you, if it had to come to violent methods."

"You mean, you don't think she could rip my head off before I could rip hers off?"

Carlisle cringed. "If you must put it that way."

"Look, Carlisle." He put his hand on his shoulder. "We're trying to prevent me from killing an innocent girl. I think it's better that I suffer non-permanent injury than that, right?"

"Of course, you're perfectly correct. Do you think Jasper would be able to help?"

Edward hesitated. "He doesn't find her scent that enticing, but he also hasn't ever gone for years without - I mean, I don't want to say he wouldn't help, but in the worse case scenario, if she falls and scrapes her knee, Emmett would probably have enough trouble keeping me in line, without having to worry about Jasper's reactions."

Carlisle winced again. "All right then. Why don't I call Esme when we get back to cell tower range, and we can all come over? You and Emmett can talk about a plan for this."

Edward could just hear the thoughts of the two of them; they'd finished their bear and were now looking for the other two. "Sounds perfect. Jasper!" he shouted.

The two ran up. "Hiding from us, huh?" joked Emmett

"No, we decided that it would be a good idea to all go to the Cullens' now."

"You did?" asked Jasper.

"I had an idea that Edward will explain when we get there," confirmed Carlisle.

Jasper and Emmett looked at each other blankly, then shrugged.

"Follow me, kids!" hooted Emmett as began running west.


	7. Chapter 7

_**Chapter 7**_

Jasper and Edward followed Emmett and Carlisle to a house that seemed rather out of place in Forks: a big fancy modern white thing, with glass replacing the back wall.

"I can hear the television, they'll be in the living room," said Carlisle. He opened the door and led them in. "Esme, Rose, you remember Edward. This is his friend, Jasper Whitlock."

Esme was the oldest - in human terms - but vampire beauty made her seem ageless. She stood up from the sofa and came to greet them. "It's lovely to meet you, Jasper. And Edward, so good to see you again." She gave him a brief, tight hug, all the while hoping he wouldn't find her affection offensive.

Rosalie hadn't stood up - she simply held her right hand over her shoulder and shook Edward's hand. "Glad you aren't dead. Is Jasper your mate or something?"

"Rose!" admonished Esme.

Jasper laughed, full-throated. "Not for lack of trying on my part, but he just won't give in."

At that, Rosalie turned her head and looked Jasper up and down as if trying to undress him with her eyes. "So I see."

Jasper shook her hand. "And you must be the lovely Rosalie Hale? Edward told me you were something else, but I can see he totally understated your beauty."

Rosalie smirked. "Well, what a surprise. I like this one, Edward." _I didn't expect to like anyone who called Edward a good friend._

Emmett coughed and pulled the handshake apart, then picked Rosalie up, sat in her place, and sat her in his lap in one smooth motion. "I think you have a point about Edward, but Jasper is hella cool for sure."

"I hear you have quite the car collection?" Jasper asked Rosalie, and immediately the two started a conversation that was close to incomprehensible to anyone who wasn't a gearhead. Emmett just grinned the whole time, happy to be holding his mate, impressed by her ingenuity.

Meanwhile, Edward was speaking to Esme about his life in the Volturi Guard. Carlisle asked a few questions now and then, to see what had changed in the centuries since he'd been there. He picked out questions in either's head before they could voice them, and they were amused. Carlisle and Esme had of course seen him do this many years ago, and it warmed them to see it again.

Eventually Edward started asking about Forks; it was their fourth year living here, so they probably wouldn't be staying too much longer. Emmett apparently overheard and spoke up. "I think we should just move to Seattle, Carlisle can work at one of the hospitals, Rose and I can go to UW. Esme too, if she wants."

Edward gave Emmett a look, and jerked his head, indicating that he wanted him to get up. He kissed Rose, whispered something in his ear, and came over to sit on the sofa. Edward sat across from him. "What's up?"

"You go to the high school?"

"Did. Graduated last term. Therefore, the wanting to go to college."

"So you probably know everyone at school, then."

He shrugged. "In the way that vampires remember everything. Rosie and I were careful not to get close to anyone, you know. Keep suspicions away."

"But you know Bella Swan?"

"Um, sorta. She was a freshman when we were sophmores, so we never had classes together. She was in honor roll, but not as high up as me and Rosie. And her dad's the police chief, so her social life seemed a bit narrow. Why, do you know her?"

"Yes, she and her father played welcome wagon to us. Her bloodscent was ... indescribable."

Emmett's mouth widened. In his memory, a woman hanging laundry on a line outside - dead in less than a minute. The reason they had to leave and come to Forks the first time. "You didn't -?"

Edward sighed. "No, I didn't. I held my breath the whole time, and later called Aro for advice, but every case he knew of, the vampires ate their singers."

"Singers?" asked Esme, distracted from her conversation with Carlisle.

"Singers?" asked Rosalie, distracted from speaking with Jasper.

"Ah, yeah, Edward's got a bit of a problem here, wantin' this girl's blood pretty damn bad, and she even has a mental shield, so it's kinda crazy," Jasper explained.

"What young lady is this?" asked Esme.

"Apparently it's Bella Swan," said Emmett.

"Oh my God! Edward, you can't stay here! You'll kill her," exclaimed Rose.

"Jasper and I are establishing the outpost in Seattle, as a matter of fact," said Edward as coolly as he could. "Forks does have more cloudy days than Seattle, but as soon as the weather turns, we'll be back there. At the moment, we need to pick up your feeding habits."

"But your eyes are already gold," pointed out Emmett.

"Yeah, just from tonight. We haven't eaten any humans in a couple weeks," said Jasper.

"We are both aware of the wolf pack and the treaty, and we mean to abide by it fully." Edward neglected to mention the loophole he intended, if Bella Swan was indeed Demetri's shield. "In fact, Carlisle, do you think we need to meet the pack leader?"

"Sam Uley? It would probably be for the best. I'll contact him and try to arrange a meeting for next week."

Edward nodded. "I should probably warn you that I didn't exactly tell Aro about the wolves here."

"You didn't tell him anything?"

"I mentioned that the Quileutes had magic that could kill vampires if we violated their treaty. I know they aren't true werewolves, but the very idea would make Caius go on a rampage, and he'd send half the guard to wipe out the tribe."

Everyone but Jasper stared at Edward for this comment. Carlisle was staring too, but also remembering what he knew of Caius, the Volturi leader who had once been attacked by a true werewolf, that phased only for the night of the full moon. As a result, he led several missions to slaughter these werewolves. Eventually he nodded, saying "I believe Edward is right. Even though they are not true werewolves, but shapeshifters, Caius wouldn't see the difference. He's quite irrational about it."

"But won't Aro know the truth when he meets Edward and Jasper again?" asked Esme, concerned.

"Yeah, but that won't be for years, and hopefully Aro won't actually tell Caius, when he finds out our reasoning."

"Their treaty even forbids knowledge of our own coven to anyone outside the tribe," said Carlisle. "So the legends they tell are only the old tales, typically."

Something was pinging Edward's memory, but he couldn't make the connection yet. "Jasper?"

"Mmmm?"

"Should we tell them about Demetri?"

"Let's wait on that." _I'll verify it first._

"All right."

"What about Demetri?" asked Carlisle.

"I'll explain later. Let's get back to your desensitization idea for Bella Swan."

"The whosit?" asked Emmett.

Carlisle explained to everyone his idea for getting Edward desensitized to Bella Swan gradually, till her scent didn't bother him as much. Edward could tell that everyone but Rose thought it was a good idea; Rose thought he should simply not risk the temptation, and leave Forks forever.

"I'm not going to start this immediately. I'd like Carlisle and Emmett to each think of a plan for me. Friday Jasper and I plan to visit the Denali coven."

"Oh man, you guys get to bang hot vamps and we have homework?" moaned Emmett. Rose punched him in the shoulder. "I mean, not that I want to bang anyone but Rose here, of course."

"This is important. If it works, Edward will be the first vampire ever who doesn't eat his singer." Carlisle was beaming at the thought, eager to be proud of Edward once again.

"Well, enough talking. Why don't I show you around the house?" smiled Esme.

Jasper and Edward followed her. She pointed out two rooms that were empty, in case they ever wanted to stay over. Jasper privately thought it was ridiculous for vampires to imitate humans so much, but Edward knew that this was Carlisle's idea, and the rest agreed with his choice. Besides, each room was soundproof, so you wouldn't have to hear any of the couples.

Back downstairs, past the living room was a parlor, in which lived a grand piano. Edward lit up at the sight of it. "May I?"

"Feel free," replied Esme.

Edward immediately jumped on the piano, starting with scales and Chopsticks, moving to Mozart then Moonlight Sonata, and finally, a tune he'd composed himself - a song for Esme. Carlisle had joined them upon hearing the piano, and he clapped along with Esme and Jasper when he finished.

"I remember, you wrote that for me," said Esme softly. Jasper could feel her joy, and Edward sensed it from him. She was so happy to hear the song, a song he hadn't played since he left them, a song she hadn't heard since then either. He remembered her being upset when he decided to leave, both times, but he couldn't exactly remember how he felt.

"Chelsea," said Carlisle softly. He was thinking about Chelsea's powers, the power to increase emotional bonds, or kill them. "Vampires don't normally form group bonds..."

"Unless they feed on animals," finished Esme. _Oh my poor boy._

"That's what Chelsea does for the Volturi, otherwise we'd all be at each others' throats," protested Edward.

"We fought for weeks before you left," Carlisle whispered.

Edward stared at him, then Esme, both of their faces distraught. "I remember the fighting, but I don't remember why. I mean, I must have been upset. I would sit and stare for hours. I just can't remember the feelings attached to the events."

"But you remember meeting Rosalie?"

"Yes, when I came back, you turned her, hoping that she and I would be attracted." He laughed out loud. "We hated each other from first sight."

"So you feel the same way about Rose, but not Esme and me," said Carlisle with an air of finality.

Edward wasn't sure what to say. In his memories, his perfect recall, he saw himself acting the way a happy person would act - then the way a jealous person would act. He remembered the first fights, over Hell, souls, and damnation. It didn't make any sense without the feelings, though, so he rarely replayed these thoughts to himself. But when he did try to implant feelings into the memories - why, then they all made sense. Unfortunately, the bonds had been cut over half a century ago, by Chelsea.

"I'm sorry about this. I mean, I can't help it, but -"

"But we can create new bonds," said Esme with a smile. "Please, stay here till you leave for Alaska."

He and Jasper looked at each other. _It's fine with me._

"All right. We'll be right back.


	8. Chapter 8

_**Chapter 8**_

Jasper got the Denali clan's number from Carlisle, and when he called, Eleazar picked up. They remembered each other, as the run-in with the Volturi over Maria trying to kill Jasper had involved Eleazar. Maria had created her last "army"; they created enough of a stir to attract Volturi attention; Demetri, Jane, Alec, and Eleazar had killed all but Carmen and Maria; and in order to save Jasper, Edward approached the group with Carlisle's name.

Carmen hadn't been killed simply because Eleazar recognized the attraction he felt towards her, and he offered to take care of her until she was no longer a newborn. But after a long talk with Edward, he and Carmen went to Alaska, and had been vegetarians with the Denali coven ever since. They led a simple life, hunting in the Alaskan wilderness. Since few people lived nearby, few vampires had ever come besides other vegetarians.

Laurent had come across the Cullens playing baseball last spring, and became quite interested in the idea of "vegetarianism." Especially after a trip to Alaska led to meeting his mate, Irina. She was the only mated sister, Tanya and Kate still being single, and quite "active on the dating scene."

"So you think they'll show me and Eddie a good time?"

Eleazar coughed. "If that is something you two would be interested in."

Jasper grinned; he could feel Edward fuming from the other room after muttering, "If they start thinking 'Eddie' is an acceptable nickname, I'm going to tear your tongue out."

"Well, Edward might beat me up and start tearing parts of me off, so I better apologize to him first. Sorry Edward! He hates it when I call him Eddie, see."

"And you two aren't mates?"

"Nope! Just good friends. Honestly I don't even know if he'll be interested in the girls if neither is his mate, he's the kind of person who prefers to be in love or something."

"The actual term is demisexual, and it means I need an emotional connection to be sexually interested in someone," Edward continued muttering from the other room.

"At any rate, you two are quite welcome to come up here this weekend, for hunting if for nothing else," Eleazar concluded. "I assume this is your cell number? I'll text everyone else's number to you, Carlisle apparently only had this landline in the main house."

"How many houses do y'all have?"

"They're more cabins, really. Two rather small ones, and one slightly bigger for movie parties and such."

"Right on. Well I will wait for these texts then let you know when we're on our way."

After hanging up, Jasper noticed that Edward's emotions were full of turmoil. He ran to see what was wrong. Edward had been thumbing through his tablet while Jasper was on the phone, but right now he was frozen still, not even breathing. Jasper took a deep breath through his nose, and he could just barely detect the scent of Bella Swan.

Well, damn.

"Hey, it's ok, man," he said softly, rubbing his shoulder. "You aren't gonna kill her."

Edward turned to look into his eyes. The last time Jasper had looked into his eyes, they were honey-colored, but now, now they were black. "I don't understand how any one human can smell so good," he wheezed out, careful not to inhale.

"Baby steps. Like Carlisle said. Every time you smell her and don't kill her, it'll get easier."

"Will it? Or will it just erase all my self-control and start an all-out war with the werewolves?"

"You told me once that you never killed someone you didn't mean to..."

Edward shuddered as he inhaled. "I'd hate to start with Chief Swan's little girl. I think I'd welcome death after killing an innocent."

Jasper's phone beeped with Eleazar's texts. He saved the numbers for each vampire in the Denali coven, then forwarded them to Edward. Edward sighed and did the same with his phone.

"So maybe we should drive up there, then."

"Why?"

"Because it'll take longer, and we can chat easier, and you'll be in a locked vehicle instead of running. Plus, I'm dying to see if that Stingray Aro got me is as sexy as I remember."

Edward rolled his eyes. "A convertible? Doesn't that defeat the purpose?"

"Uh, yes, this one's a hardtop, fool."

ooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo

Thursday morning they'd picked up the car, arranged insurance, and their Canadian passports (far more useful than American ones lately) for the drive. Edward had to admit it was a lovely car with an amazing engine, but having to use leaded gasoline was rather an annoyance. Jasper suggested they fill the trunk with gas cans, and Edward had to smack him and remind him that they were more, rather than less, flammable than humans.

The cheapest gas, unfortunately, was near the reservation. They did get Carlisle to tell Sam Wednesday night that they'd be there, but that didn't prevent high school kids on their lunch break from staring at Jasper as he filled up. And at least two werewolves - the ones that were over six-four and looked like steroided body-builders - and smelled like wet dog. Actually, quite a few of them smelled a little bit of dog; those must have been the grandchildren of the former werewolves. Both potential and actual werewolves gave Jasper the dirtiest looks when he finished paying for the gas and lead additives.

"Goddammit, that fucker musta told everyone we'd be here," groaned Jasper as he started the car.

Edward didn't say a word till they got back on the highway. Fear was pouring off him.

"They wouldn't attack us in broad daylight, Eddie."

He snapped, "How many times do I have to tell you not to call me that!"

"Chill, man, I was just trying to calm you down. Since you don't like it when I use my powers."

"Go ahead and use them now. You don't want to know what those boys were thinking."

Jasper nodded and let the chill vibes out. "Something to do with filling our trunk with gas cans?"

He shook his head. "They were thinking about Bella Swan's parents, actually. I don't know what the hell Carlisle said about her, but, well, I can let you know that Renee Higgenbotham is definitely her mother."

"Those guys know Bella's mother's name?"

"No, but they know what she looks like. She visits here over summers, now, and, well, she's the same person Demetri met five years ago."

"Huh," was all Jasper could say.

"One of them was the son of 'uncle Billy', too."

"So I guess he would know, huh."

"He's ... rather fond of her. Oh, he doesn't actually believe vampires are real, but he was suspicious that we looked so similar to the Cullens."

"This is all just wonderful news, Edward."

"No, the wonderful part is that vampire presence is what they think activates the change."

"Uh... so all those kids glaring at us that smelled like stinky dawg are going to be werewolves in a couple weeks?"

"It's a possibility."

Jasper groaned. "Thank the Lord I'm getting laid this weekend."

"The Blacks, Atearas and Uleys signed the original treaty, there were about five boys that had the scent I think."

"Is it only the males?"

"Uh, I don't know. I mean, Carlisle only mentioned meeting men in the '30s, but I can't think of a reason why not."

"You don't think we'll be able to change Bella when we get back, do you?"

"It might be for the best, but we'll never be able to go back to Forks again if the tribe thinks we killed her. I think we just need to explain about Demetri, and how she has to change now."

"You don't think she should be given a choice?"

Edward glared at him. "Who among us was given a choice to become a vampire or not? She's met a vampire and lived. Hell, she's met a bunch of vampires and lived, and she's my singer! We'll do the injection, since Aro told you it worked, and we won't even have broken the treaty."

"I just think at this point, it's pure luck that we've found her again, and we know she'll be here till spring, so what's the rush?" asked Jasper.

"You know, Jasper," he said softly. "I don't want to kill her."

"Is it that you don't want to kill her, or you don't want her dead?"

"Well, obviously I don't want her dead either way, but yes, I especially don't want to be the one responsible for her death."

"Funny, when I met you, you wouldn't have wanted her to be turned either."

"Are you never going to stop mocking me for that? So I thought vampires were doomed to hell. It was hardly an uncommon belief! You know I now think being a vampire has many advantages to being human, but the thirst thing is pretty damned bad, figuratively speaking."

"Well, now that I've been only drinking animals, I can see what you mean," admitted Jasper.

"Ferry to Canada, let's get quiet."

oooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo

 _note: normally you would not go to La Push to leave Forks, but they wanted to get the cheapest gas possible, and on this day it was on the rez._


	9. Chapter 9

_**note: sorry for the delay!**_

 _ **The song Jasper sings is "All you do is talk," by Black Rebel Motorcycle Club.**_

 _ **Chapter 9**_

Edward had died at the age of seventeen, unsurprisingly still a virgin, while Jasper died as a soldier - a Major, in fact - and he had not. Edward saw Rosalie and Emmett - not to mention Carlisle and Esme - and was more determined than ever to wait for love, even if not a true mate, at least a girlfriend would be nice. None of the women in the Volturi compound interested him much, except perhaps Chelsea, but Edward was well aware that she had forced the interest. She had Afton, anyway, so the interest she piqued was equally mild in both males and females; she just liked being the center of attention if she could be. Jasper had only tried to sleep with her once, and after he and Afton nearly ripped each other to pieces, she never attempted to induce sexual interest in Jasper again.

After that, Jasper had felt free to sleep with whomever he desired, male or female, as long as they looked his way first. Even some mated vampires would have threesomes with him, because they knew that he was accomplised, both physically and emotionally. And Jasper was fully bisexual, preferring females, but male vampires didn't often get a "no" from him.

Edward privately thought of him as a slut, and Jasper knew it. Both of them knew the other's sexual preferences, and both of them thought the other was an idiot. Edward didn't exactly read minds during sex - the thoughts were often too jumbled for words to form, so his telepathy merely translated them into "this is A having sex with B" and that was that. He could get the start, and as a result, he knew many varying techniques, but the climax of xex itself was still a bit of a mystery to him. (Not physically, emotionally.)

So that was that. On the way to Alaska, he'd hoped the two unmated girls would at least want to have some conversations with him, instead of just keeping Jasper busy all weekend, but he was wrong. They normally only slept with humans, so the mere concept of an interested vampire male made them quite interested in return. So Edward ended up hunting interesting animals in the preserve with the mated pairs.

Laurent was the only vampire he'd met in the two "vegetarian" covens to have reddish eyes. He privately admitted to Edward that he had a bit of trouble staying on the diet. Edward could read Irina whenever she saw his eyes, and her thoughts were full of pain and regret. The sisters had converted to vegetarianism from being "succubi," having too soft hearts to continue eating the men they could love, and Irina felt for every human Laurent must have devoured. Edward almost wished he hadn't told the whole coven about the werewolves, since otherwise the odds might have been against Laurent. But of course, then Irina would have been far more upset than she was now. It was just the way vampires were - most didn't even care about humans, but all cared about their mates.

The other two and Jasper were finally taking a break for a snack, Edward noticed, and told the rest of them. They all stared at him in amazement, until Eleazar began laughing.

"Your power. You can detect minds you are more familiar with, yes?"

"Well, I did detect Jasper first. I can read his mind up to maybe ten miles away? Most people only one or two, I suppose."

Eleazar nodded. "That makes sense. And it's harder for you to ignore Jasper especially."

"Unless he's trying to distract me, that's correct."

"How would someone distract you?"

"Carlisle used to recite Latin scripture. Jasper usually just sings. He knows lots of songs," said Edward, fondly exasperated.

"Why not? You only hear surface thoughts, yes?"

"I'm nothing like Aro, that's right."

Eleazar clicked his tongue. "Nothing at all like Aro! He has to touch someone, and he gets the whole package, yes? But he then only looks at the surface thoughts!" He was still laughing as Jasper, Kate and Tanya loped up to them.

"We miss somethin' funny?" asked Jasper.

"Not really," Edward informed them. "Telepathy joke."

"Uh, ok. So did you save some grizzly for me?"

"Actually, we were talking about trying for sea life next," said Irina, with Edward and Carmen nodding. "It has a flavor better than anything we've tried up here."

Laurent's thoughts were adding in that one exception, so Edward gave him a nasty glare, and said, "Hey! Remember guys, I can read your minds! It's nothing I can control!"

Tanya and Kate were almost as startled as Laurent, although they were thinking of an entirely different flavor than human blood.

As they all ran to the coast, Jasper went off a little separately with Edward, and asked mentally, _Who was thinking something rude?_

"Did you see his eyes," murmured Edward as softly as he could, just loudly enough for Jasper only to hear. "Irina is not happy about it."

 _If you want to stay, I could provide emotional feedback against it, so he feels what they feel when he kills them._

"Maybe later. I want to go back to Forks."

 _Maybe you'll change your mind after you have some killer whale,_ he joked. _Maybe it's better than Bella Swan._

"Really don't appreciate murder jokes like that."

Jasper actually full-stopped in his run. Edward turned around to go back to him, but even the mile between them wasn't enough to prevent Jasper from projecting his shock. _Since when do you not appreciate a good murder joke?_

"Since they were about an innocent girl."

This time he spoke, so surprised was he. "You want to go back to Forks so you can do that thing Carlisle said, and become the first vampire to actually not ever eat his singer?"

"What the hell? Of course not! Do you really think I'm that self-righteous of a prig?"

Jasper tried hard not to laugh aloud, but he failed, and Edward broke down as well.

"OK, OK, I have been a bit of a prig in the past. I've been proud of the fact that I never ate a human unless I made a choice to. And those people... ugh." He pretended to shudder. "And I choose not to eat her either."

Jasper nodded slowly, and as he began to run again, lyrics covered his real thoughts. _Help yourself don't think, help yourself don't speak, help yourself don't say a thing at all..._

Edward wanted to hit him, but instead followed him to the coast. He had still preferred mountain lion to everything else he'd eaten, but it was definitely true that he compared everything to the Swan girl, and it came up short. Even the killer whale he shared with Tanya (who really compared every single thing to sex!), one of the most delicious animals ever, had nothing against her.

He was curious how they stopped eating men. Irina had given the basics - "if we stopped killing them, we could keep screwing them" - but Tanya gave a few more details on the run home.

"It was gradual," she admitted. "I was the first to stop completely. It was just a test, to see if I could. My sisters were worried I'd gone crazy. But then it was clear that I was smarter. And more – the more I stuck to animals, the more I wanted to only eat them, you see? There was – like Jasper. Empathy."

She didn't mean exactly like Jasper, obviously. "Yes, empathy does help. Yours was natural, not a witch power, but it still helped."

"Yes, yes. Even those _you_ eat want to live. They have parents, brothers, sisters. You should not be judge and executioner if you do not wish it." _His legs are so fast, what else can they do?_

 _OK, that's it._ "Jasper, we are going home in twenty minutes!"


	10. Chapter 10

_**Chapter 10**_

Just as Bella pulled out of the school's parking lot, her phone rang with Ozzy Osbourne. She giggled and turned on speaker. "Hey Mom, I just left school."

"Oh right, high school. What's so funny?"

"Because you put 'Mama I'm Coming Home' for my ringtone, and I'm going home. OK, it's not **that** funny," she said over her mother's own laughter.

"But we're back in Jacksonville! Phil's team didn't make it to the playoffs this year," she informed her. "Maybe you could come for a weekend visit!"

"Isn't that like, a five-hour flight just from Seattle?"

"Oh, you're right. I guess a weekend wouldn't be much fun... How about Thanksgiving?"

"Yeah, that could be cool."

Renee went on about some of the things that she'd seen during her travels with Phil's minor league baseball team. Bella absently replied "cool" to her as she drove home, but she slammed her brakes in front of the old Lawson place.

"Bella! Are you driving?"

"The phone's on speaker," she sighed, neglecting to remind her mother that she had informed her this at the very beginning of the call in the first place. "Someone bought the old Lawson place."

"But not recently?" she guessed.

"Well, about a week ago. And today, Jessica said that her cousin's brother-in-law said they bought a new car, well actually an old Stingray I think?"

"Oh wow, I wonder if it was Charlie's?"

This sentence completely derailed Bella's train of thought. "My father owned a two-seater convertible?"

"His was a hard-top, what color is theirs?"

"Well that's the thing! It's not here!"

She chuckled. "He must be pretty cute, huh?"

Feeling her face flush, she replied, "They are both cute, yes, and probably extremely happy and in love with each other."

"A hot young gay couple? Forks must be screaming with gossipy glee."

Since this was true, Bella didn't bother acknowledging it. "I guess I can call Jessica, or maybe just go to the gas station and ask if they went someplace..." she thought aloud.

"Well, I was going to ask how school was, but clearly you have something far more important to focus on."

"Oh, come on. School is fine, they're letting me teach yoga again." The first year she started high school, her father and her doctor gave her signed slips recommending yoga rather than any real gym class, and a lot of the other girls got interested. The only time she'd ever interacted with Rosalie Hale had been last year during that class. Technically, she didn't have to take gym this year, but it counted as team-leading for her college applications, as well as "sports." Last year it had only been during her gym hour, but this year, since she had taken some AP classes in subjects that Forks High went no further in, she had lots of time. She was also taking an online class in English Romantic Poets, and had entered a contest about Wordsworth. The prize was a two week trip to the English Lake District, so she was crossing her fingers hard on that. She finished the drive home while telling her mother about it.

"That's like, Lake Windermere? Oh, wait, no, that's the fan."

"Lake Windermere is one of the lakes, yes. Oscar Wilde did write a play called Lady Windermere's fan, yes," she said in the patient tone she used when her mother was confused about something.

"That sure would be great if you won! Maybe we could make it our trip, even if you don't win."

" _That_ would be great," agreed Bella.

"So aside from the hot gaybors, are there any boys on your radar?"

"Um, not really. There's some juniors taking the yoga class, but I'm pretty sure one of them is gay, and the other just wants to stare at girls doing downward-facing-dog. He won't last."

"I bet. I tried yoga for a while, and I'm really impressed you've been able to stick with it all this time. It's really not easy! I bet the flexibility is easier for sixteen-year-olds, huh."

"Probably." She looked around the kitchen and started on a tomato sauce that would take about two hours to mellow properly. They were out of pasta, so she decided as soon as the sauce was ready to simmer, she'd go to the supermarket.

"What about Charlie's friend Billy? Doesn't he have kids your age?"

"Well, you know, Rachel and Becky aren't around anymore, and Jacob is almost two years younger than me."

"So he's sixteen or seventeen?"

"Yeah, I guess. Hey, can I call you back? I want to chop some onions."

"First tell me how hot Jacob is."

"Mom! We practically wore diapers together!"

"Fine. Does he have any cute friends?"

Sighing, she replied, "I would say that Embry is cuter than Jake, but that's probably because of the diaper thing. Objectively speaking they are um, both kind of beautiful."

"Pics or it didn't happen. Bye Bella, love you!"

"You too mom," she grumbled, stabbing the power button.

Chopping of onions commenced. Garlic, fresh basil and oregano from the kitchen herb garden, bell peppers, and one carrot. She didn't bother bringing it to a full boil after adding the canned tomatoes; it would cook down either way. Plenty of time now to figure out where Jasper and Edward had gone. "Gaybors?" She wondered what her mother had been watching.

Besides pasta and a few other groceries, she had no luck at the supermarket. Oh, every woman at the store knew who she meant, but they hadn't seen them buying much. The gas station was even worse, since a young man was working and had no idea. Finally, she tried Mike Newton - or rather, the store his parents ran. She felt a little bad, as after he and Jessica broke up, he had made it quite clear that he was interested, although politely when she didn't seem to pick up on his subtle-but-consistent overtures.

But hell, apparently her mom wanted her to date, and if Jessica didn't mind maybe it wouldn't kill her. Maybe.

"Welcome to Newton's, how can I be of - Bella?" Mike was as shocked as anyone would be at seeing Bella Swan in a sporting goods store. "Uh, does your dad need more fishing line or something?"

"No, um," she laughed at herself, "actually - can you keep a secret?"

His eyes widened. "Yeah, of course," he said, making his voice quieter. "What is it?"

She whispered, "So you know the guys who bought the Lawson place? Edward Masen and Jasper Whitlock?"

"Yeah, they bought some camping stuff yesterday. They said they were going north for the weekend. Are they already gone?"

She leaned close to his ear; she could hear his breathing get louder. "They took a two-seater."

He gently took her by the shoulders so he could look in her eyes. His pupils dilated so widely that Bella could barely see the blue of his irises. "That Stingray Jess mentioned? Seriously?" He looked up and to the right for a second, then said, back in his normal voice, "Well, they're a couple, they probably share their tent and everything." He was trying not to frown, thinking about it, then looked back at Bella. "You think they aren't camping. You think it's a cover for something? I mean, they could just be hiking, whatever." He suddenly seemed to notice he was still touching Bella, and slowly removed his hands back to his sides.

"Right, but why would they _lie_ about it?"

Mike shrugged. "Believe me, people lie all the time about all kinds of stuff for absolutely no good reason. Sometimes people are telling the truth when they come in here, but sometimes they can't be, and they don't even seem to care how obvious it is." Suddenly he turned back to look Bella in the eyes again; his pupils were a bit smaller than before. "Do you think they aren't even an actual couple?"

She hadn't, but now that Mike mentioned it - "Think about it. Two attractive guys come to town, buy a one-bedroom, everyone assumes they're gay, right? But what if they just let people think it? What if the secret is even more damaging?" As the daughter of the police chief, she was well aware of how damaging being known as gay could occasionally be in a small town. Forks was reasonably accepting of people who lived there for their entire lives - community sticks together - but there were always small minds everywhere.

Mike was clearly enthralled, with her or the story, she couldn't tell which. "Is that why came in here?"

"Well, I figured if anyone had noticed something, it would be you," she lied freely. Not that Mike was an idiot - they'd had plenty of advanced classes together - but it wasn't like she'd counted on him to make up such craziness. She'd seen them together - they looked at least as close as brothers, or like Rachel and Becky. Not exactly like Renee and Phil, not obviously still madly in love, but as if they'd shared their life so long they knew each other. Was it possible for two straight men to act that way, who weren't twins? She didn't know, but she would find out.

"I did notice something else weird," he said idly.

"Oh?"

"Well, so, they're from Quebec."

"Right..."

"But they have the same eyes as the Cullens, who were adopted.

Bella stared at Mike. "What?"

"That same amber-honey sort of color. I remember thinking how weird it was."

She managed to say, "That is kind of weird." But she was remembering that they both had brown eyes - Jasper's brown like hers, Edward's so dark you couldn't make out the pupil. Contacts? But were all of them wearing contacts? That was silly; none of the Cullens were actually related to each other. "You didn't mention the Cullens to them, did you?"

"Uh, well, actually, the younger one asked me if I would recommend Carlisle Cullen..."

"Really?" Now that was weird. "What did you say?"

Mike actually blushed. "I said they should ask you, since, well, you know."

Since she saw Dr. Cullen more than any normal human ought to, especially after the ice accident. "Yeah, I'm not offended, it's ok," she said, trying to laugh to make him comfortable.

"Well I didn't know if you were sensitive about it. I mean you started teaching yoga to avoid gym..."

"I like yoga, Mike!"

"Really?"

"Yeah, really." She smiled to show it.

He smiled back. "Hey, Bella, you know something?"

"What?"

"I think this might be the longest conversation we've ever had that wasn't school related."

She wasn't sure that was true, but there was physical contact, which would definitely make the memory stand out in the future. "I hate to break it up, but I've got dinner on the stove."

He shook his head. "I mean, yeah, go ahead, I just hoped we could have another conversation some time."

She flipped her hair. "That could be nice."

He grinned. "You busy tomorrow?"

"Call me."

His grin got wider. "Thanks for coming to Newton's, I hope you found everything you were looking for!"

 _oooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo_

 _AN: You want more updates, well here you go! Bella/Mike!_

 _This will just be a quick detour. I just wanted to make it clear that Mike Newton is a reasonably decent person, just not in a universe with Edward._


	11. Chapter 11

_**Chapter 11**_

As Jasper pulled up to the final US/Canada border, Edward asked, "Aren't you tired of driving?"

"Our kind don't get tired, and you know it, Edward. You also know I'm not bored, so the only possible reason you could have for asking is your oh-so-altruistic desire to relieve my hands from non-power steering. And no, you can't drive. I still remember Hamburg."

"Oh God, you wreck one Volkswagon under Nazi fire, and you're never allowed to forget it!"

Jasper was grinning. "Y'know I just like yankin' yer chain. I know you did better than I could have, Mister Telepathy."

"Well, I personally am _very_ bored. I've mastered this simulation game on my phone, and I'm actually raising children to be Nobel Prize winners!" He pulled off his coat, literally, ripping it almost in half. His frustration had been quietly increasing during the entire trip, and now on Tuesday morning he was wondering if it were possible for vampires to go insane.

"Woah, slow ya roll, homedog. I really didn't mean to rub old wounds." Jasper had to concentrate to avoid Edward's feelings from becoming a feedback loop between the two of them, but he'd definitely had practice. Aro joked sometimes that Edward had the temper of a newborn. Jasper knew this to be false, but he was more volatile than an older-turned-vampire would be. On the other hand, Jasper only knew this because of his power. The rest of the Guard found Edward to be the most controlled of them all.

"I was going to get our contacts, but then I remembered we don't need them anymore. Then I remembered why we don't need them anymore, I mean Forks."

"You mean your singer."

"Even as a newborn, I never killed anyone. It wasn't till leaving, and I've never ever killed an innocent." Edward was staring at the line they had just joined for customs. Jasper couldn't even say what the man was feeling now, with his emotions tangled like a ball of yarn after a kitten got done with it. He remained quiet as they slowly progressed forward.

"We used the Canadian passports here, and the US ones for Alaska, right? Could you hand 'em over?"

Edward actually blinked. "Passports. Yes." He handed the correct ones over to Jasper. "Do you really think we should stay in Forks?"

"Not as many people as Seattle, more cloud cover, plus the Cullens? Ain't the worst idea, aside from the Swan girl."

"She calls herself Bella," he said absently. "I suppose Aro wouldn't like it if we didn't look into having her turned soon."

"Right. So I did look her up, by the way, she's just almost eighteen. Her mom remarried summer before this, and if she visits, we can turn her. Fake a plane crash for them."

"You think so?"

"That's why you want to leave Forks, right? No other reason. Um, 'sides the werewolves, I 'spose."

"And the Cullens aren't really any good at watching out for lawbreakers. I mean, even staying here for as long as they have, it could trigger suspicion. Actually I'm a little surprised Bella doesn't suspect them, seeing as she's met Demetri."

"They never got that close, remember? She might'a seen his eyes, but I don't think she knows that he feels the way Carlisle does. And dangit that came out dirtier 'n I meant!"

Edward actually cracked half of a smile. The one that he knew everyone swooned over. Jasper wasn't especially turned on by Edward most of the time, but he had to admit that smile was attractive. "At any rate, the Cullens actually allowed Laurent on their land, from what he told me, and he's hardly faithful to the vegetarian diet."

"He's only even trying for his mate! I mean, he doesn't actually care about killing, he just thinks it's mostly more convenient."

"Yes, he thinks animals taste foul."

"Well, man's got a point."

This time he snorted. "Tastes better than guilt."

"But we'd been here last year, we might'a had to kill him."

"Mmmm, I don't think he was breaking our laws at all. He really does like having a house to come home to, even if he hadn't met Irina." Meaning he was a fan of stability, and disliked being a nomad.

"Yeah but Carlisle sure wouldn't have stepped up." He idly wondered if Emmett would join them for such missions locally. Jasper was an amazing fighter, and when he projected calm onto their enemies, he and Edward were a pretty great team.

"Emmett will definitely enjoy violence, but he won't leave Rose for anything, naturally, and she isn't really happy being a vampire aside from him."

"What? Really?"

"She wanted a real family," he sighed.

And then it was their turn with the border agent. Jasper projected good cheer as he handed over their passports, and just for fun, started in French, as their passports claimed they were from Quebec. He was about to correct himself and speak English with a Quebec accent, but the agent actually admitted to four years of French in high school, so they had a passable conversation. At least, as passable as any conversation with border control ever was. He made up a trip to Vancouver, claiming they stayed at the Columbia Hotel - he hadn't been there in fifty years, but it still existed - and indulged in the nightlife near Hastings. Jasper was capable of cleaning up paper trails, but he was also capable of charming humans and vampires, and that was always easier.

Once they started on their way south, Edward spoke up. "I don't know how long I can avoid killing Bella Swan."

"Hey man, chill out. Carlisle's plan oughtta work, right?"

"Carlisle hasn't ever actually killed anyone, let alone a singer. Emmett thinks he killed two, himself. Even Aro doesn't think what I want to do is possible."

"Aro is a bit of an old fart, yannow. Hidebound, that is," he added when Edward broke down at 'fart.' "Wow, you are switching up and down like a newborn, son."

"I am well aware, thank you," he said stiffly.

"Anyhow, I personally am a fan of human blood, but I drank so indiscriminately back in the day that I honestly can't even tell much of a difference between Bella and say Charlie. Whereas you lasted ten whole years before making a decision to go full carnivore. If I hadn't met you first, I don't think I'd believe Carlisle, I gotta say."

"It's funny, isn't it," he mused, "how different you and I started, but eventually came to eating animals only for almost the same reasons."

"Well, yeah. They're sapient, just like us. OK, they don't have the brain capacity we do, but they still fear dying."

"I wonder if Bella will fear dying," he whispered.

"You mean, when we change her? It ain't fun, for sure."

"No, that's not what I meant."

"OH! you mean when you rip her throat out," Jasper said with a healthy dose of irony.

"Jasper, I don't want to kill her, but what if I - what if I can't do anything else?"

He sighed. "Eddie, you won't. I'll just ask Carlisle and Emmett to help me rip out your teeth, if you really think it's going to be a problem."

They drove aboard the Coupeville ferry. "Well! I feel so much better now," he said with a healthy dose of irony.

"I aim to please."

"Don't call me Eddie, then."


	12. Chapter 12

_**Chapter 12**_

Edward didn't think he was supposed to smell through glass, but molecules were tricky bastards that way. At least the aroma wasn't overpowering, yet.

"I called Chief Swan on Thursday morning, to see if Bella could come in Friday. She told me she got to skip gym." Carlisle smiled and thought of a few incidents, before the girl had managed to convince everyone that yoga would be far preferable than normal physical education.

"She does yoga?"

Emmett snorted. "Yeah, Rosie made us do it with her." _Huhuh, do it with her._

"Because we'd stand out too much in any other activity! Carlisle was going to write us excuses till we saw that Bella was actually helping teach the class last year."

"She was even teaching seniors?" Oddly enough, Edward almost felt proud of her. After all, witch powers indicate one's personality, and normally he'd think a mentally private person would be shy.

"She was pretty good at the lessons, but she didn't really interact with anyone she didn't already know," Emmett told him.

"The other problem is her syncope in the presence of blood." At Emmett's blank stare, he added, "Fainting."

Jasper, Emmett and Rosalie broke out into laughter.

"Oh, I was wrong, you all should be grounded," chided Esme.

"At any rate, I have it here." Carlisle reached into his black bag - the same one he had when Edward first met him, he was certain - and pulled it out.

More beautiful than a ruby - more enticing than alcohol to a drunk - Edward's own brand of heroin - tipped over into Edward's hand.

A glass specimen tube, containing a blood sample of one Ms. Bella Swan.

"Here, follow me, he doesn't need anyone to see this. Let him get comfortable alone." At Carlisle's urging, Jasper and the Cullens left, all but Rosalie.

She didn't say anything, but she didn't have to: her thoughts were enough. He withstood her mockery for a while, remembering how annoying he'd always found her, until finally he was about to say something.

And took a breath.

The next few moments were a bit of a blur, with him coming to a few seconds later, crawling and licking the shattered glass tube that he had - dropped? squeezed?

The blood on his hand was the first to go, then the remains on the glass, and finally he was literally sucking the carpet. It was over a day old, refrigerated and still not yet room temperature, but it was the blood of his singer. Nothing else mattered.

Rose's voice cut through his haze. "I mean, gross."

"Have _you_ tried it?"

"I've never tasted human blood," she reminded him in a lofty tone.

"Sorry. Apparently my telepathy seems to have briefly shorted out."

"Again, gross. Weren't you even eating people a few weeks ago?"

"Not really? It took a week to get here from Montreal..."

"I said a few weeks, dork," Rose repeated.

He blinked. "Oh. Right. Not that often, but yes. Jasper would find criminals who got away with rape and/or murder, for when we were sick of ... rat blood..." Rats are a million miles away for Edward, and he understood why singers were so prized. He couldn't imagine something better than what he'd been sucking out of the carpet.

Oh. Dear. He'd been sucking blood out of the _carpet_. He stood up again. "There's a bathroom I can use to wash up?"

Rose was thinking of how he had blood all over his face. He was determined to wash it off rather than taste any more. Besides, it was probably just dried smears at this point. "Bathroom, yeah." She pictured walking to it, and he ironically bowed to her before he left.

His face was just as disgusting as Rosalie thought, to be honest. He was truly glad that no one else was present for it - and that no one else would ever read Rose's mind to replay his instinctual behavior. He was acting like, well, an animal.

Not anymore. See, he was washing his face! Like a human! He didn't need to use soap - his skin didn't produce oils like human skin - but he did anyway, because it was the human thing to do. "Rose?"

 _What is it?_

"I think I understand why you go back to high school and college."

"To learn?" _From humans._

"So you can be around humans more. I thought it was torture at first, but -"

"It can be," she grinned, and Edward's jaw dropped.

"What? I do have a sense of humor, Edward."

"Sorry. Chelsea pretty much killed any positive feelings I ever had for you," he muttered.

She walked into the bathroom. "Oh Edward. We did laugh together, before you left again. I think you'll really like Emmett, if you get to know him, that's one thing he's good at, laughing."

"Yes, I can read minds, remember. He was making crude jokes almost the entire time Carlisle was talking."

Rose smiled and took his hand into hers. _That's my Em._

"Actually I might need Emmett later tonight, are you hunting?"

"We don't usually hunt more than twice a month," she said slowly. "Do you need to -?"

"I should," he said, pointing at his eyes.

"Oh! Right. I keep forgetting. I mean, it's not something we've had to worry about. Emmett's last slip, he was still practically a newborn, mid-thirties or so."

"Definitely long enough to not be thinking about it."

"That's something else that going to school makes you think about. Not killing all those people."

Edward gulped. "You have killed people, though. And the people I kill make those _men_ look like saints." He ran a bit of water, rinsed his mouth out, and spat, as if for emphasis.

"I was a newborn, and there wasn't actually any evidence," she said, her former patience with him starting to fade with this topic. "Since, you know, after they killed me I came back as a vampire!"

"I know, Rose, I never judged you."

Rose's anger dissolved, and she hugged Edward. "Yeah, that was the other reason I put up with you."

He hugged her back, tentatively. "But you think interacting with them daily makes it easier to abstain?"

"If you have good control - and I know you do - then definitely. I don't know about Jasper, though. Carlisle tells me he went through some of those big vampire wars in the South?"

Edward nodded. "I'm amazed he has the control he does have. It might be a bad idea putting him in a high school, though. Too many missteps and accidents..." He trailed off. "Didn't Carlisle say that Bella was incredibly clumsy?"

"She is, that's why she was doing yoga, right."

"Tell Emmett and Jasper I'm going to the high school."

Rose stared at him. "You're joking, right? Please tell me you're joking."

"I'll catch a squirrel or something on the way."

"Edward, you won't be able to smell her from here! At school she has a nurse and emergency contacts. She'll be fine, and you aren't even allowed on the grounds."

He gave his most winning crooked smile. "Only if they see me." And then he twirled around and ran downstairs, then out the house, then onto the highway.

"Jasper! Emmett!"

"In the garage!" hollered Emmett, as the garage was almost a mile from the house.

Rose ran, not nearly as fast as Edward, but faster than she'd have been able to as a human.

"Hey babe, what's up? Jasper wanted to see the collection."

It was true, Jasper was inspecting each and every car in the garage. She smiled, as working on cars was one of her favorite things in the world. "Well, Mr. Masen decided that Ms. I'm-Dangerously-Clumsy needs his help to get through the day uninjured. Never mind that she was hit by a van not due to her own clumsiness, and got through that pretty much ok without Mr. Know-It-All's white knight-ery. God, that guy can piss me off."

"Oh Lord, is that what he's doing? Come on, Emmett, we'll take your Jeep to the school."


	13. Chapter 13

**_Chapter 13_**

Bella was not having the best time. After meeting with Mike, she came home with a message from Dr. Cullen, to see him after school. Apparently someone had finally noticed that she skipped the blood draw during her physical due to low blood pressure, and so after gym her BP should be high enough. So she went, and of course, got woozy despite hiding her face while they poked her. She just couldn't help it, the smell made her sick. They made her eat a cookie before she left, so she went ahead and called the store to let Mike know she couldn't hang out that night.

He remembered, of course, the day last year in Bio where they did blood type testing, and he had to drag her outside for fresh air. Unfortunately, Saturday was a wash, since basketball practice was starting that very day, and Mike was trying to get in to Princeton. He figured their basketball team needed fresh blood, so even if he couldn't win a sports scholarship, it would help his admission prospects - as did the fact his grandfather went. They chatted about college for a while, finally deciding to get lunch on Sunday if it was ok with Bella's dad.

It was not. The prospect of her possibly going on a date made him say immediately, "When was the last time you saw the Blacks? You're coming fishing." Which sucked on all levels, but the worst was that Jake was too sick to come. Bella brought a couple of books at least, and it didn't rain much, but she still had to get up at five in the morning, and was so exhausted that she burned herself frying up the fish for dinner. At least she had finished her homework Saturday - she ended up passing out around 9pm Sunday night.

Mike didn't bring it up during lunch, thank God, just let her complain about the fishing trip. He likewise countered with what a hardass the coach was on Saturday, since they were out of practice. Basketball was one of the few sports Bella actually understood and therefore enjoyed watching - last year, when Mike and Jess had been together, she went to almost all the games with Jessica - so she let him rant about running "suicides" and free throw practice and such. But she was starting to realize that being cute and having a sense of humor might not be enough to really interest her. Just because he really liked her, it didn't mean they had to go out.

Part of the problem, she thought, was that he laughed at her jokes, but she only smiled at his. Whereas with, say, Jacob, they laughed equally. She hadn't thought of Jacob that way, since he was younger, but if she had to swear to the truth, she found Jacob more interesting than Mike.

She thought of this all through her yoga class, and almost thought she saw him hanging out by her car. But, no, it was some other tall guy who looked nothing like Jake.

"Edward?" she said in amazement. "What are you doing here?"

"Oh, you remember me. I wasn't sure," he said, not trying to shake her hand or anything. In fact, he seemed to have a personal bubble that was larger than hers.

"Of course I remember you. We came to see you and, uh, Jasper. Except you were pretty quiet."

"Jasper is a little more friendly than I am, one might say. I uh, well, you could say I'm not exactly neurotypical." He gave her a crooked smile that almost made her gasp. _Wow, he is so good-looking. Too bad he's gay._

"You mean, like, Asperger's or something?"

"Something like that." His smile was a little tighter now; she supposed it was a sensitive subject. Fortunately he changed it before she could. "I understand we have an acquaintance in common. Dr. Carlisle Cullen?"

She laughed a little. "He's practically my best friend. No, not really. I was in a really bad accident last year though, he pretty much saved my life."

"You - what? Really?"

"Yeah, I'm fine now. Thanks to lots of yoga and Dr. Cullen. But how do you know him?"

He chuckled, rubbing the back of his head. "He was my parents' doctor when they died. You could say he saved my life as well."

"Oh - Oh God, I'm so sorry!"

Shrugging, he said, "It was ages ago, I barely remember them. But he took me in afterwards."

"Oh! Like uh, Emmett and Rosalie?"

"Exactly. Although I was adopted first. Left home early though." He smiled that smile again, and Bella felt herself blush.

"So you went to school in Montreal and met Jasper there?"

"We met before that. You could say we were recruited at the same time. I'd tell you more, but I'd have to kill you," he said in a silly voice to indicate a joke.

"Wait, you mean you work together too? I guess that makes sense..."

He shook his head. "We only work together. I'm not interested in him _that way,_ you see. I hope you get to spread that gossip faster than the other rumor."

Bella stared at him. "You - you aren't - a couple?"

He gritted his teeth. "Only in the sense that there are two of us. Work partners only, I promise."

"Oh God," she laughed nervously. "Did the silly town gossip tick you off?"

"Not especially, it isn't the first time it's happened, but of course I prefer the truth."

"Right. I went fishing Sunday," she suddenly blurted out.

He looked puzzled, but asked, "Did you have a nice time?"

"Oh, no, I hate going fishing, but my dad and his friends are crazy into it." She took a deep breath. "I mean, we have a lot of fish left, would you want some?"

"Ah, I'm sorry, but Jasper is allergic."

"Do you two always eat the same thing?"

"Well, mostly. It's simpler that way. Except when dining out." Once again the crooked smile came out, and Bella couldn't believe she was talking to one of the most beautiful men in Forks, and he was smiling at her. A lot.

"Then you should come to dinner maybe." Oh no, she actually said that out loud.

"Uh. I don't mean to be rude, but -"

"No, no, nevermind! It's just that we have all this frozen fish, and if you like it and Jasper doesn't, then why not have some? But then I realized I was an idiot."

"I don't think you're an idiot," he said quietly, then smiled at her again, a bigger smile this time, showing teeth, perfect white teeth. "Perhaps your father wouldn't like you inviting strange men to dinner, is what I was going to say."

She swallowed. "Yeah, probably not."

He turned to her truck. "This is yours, is it not? I thought I'd seen it driving past our place."

"Oh, yeah, my dad gave it to me for my sixteenth birthday. It was his friend Billy Black's, but he has to use a wheelchair and prefers automatics now." Babbling, she was babbling. Stupid sexy Edward.

"Jasper's rather obsessed with classic American automobiles, if you want to sell it."

"Why would I want to sell it?" she asked, baffled.

He frowned at her. "You just told me you were in a really bad accident, I just assumed -"

"The truck is perfect," she cut him off. "It was icy, I wasn't even in the truck when the van hit me. And then it hit my truck too, and you can't even tell."

He looked the truck over. "In the back, right?"

"You can tell?"

Crooked smile. "Just because I was looking. Well, I suppose it makes you feel safe, but a modern car with ABS and power steering would probably be far more maneuverable in traffic. We could even do a trade, Jasper really wouldn't mind."

"I'll - I'll talk to my dad," she said, breathless, hating the fact that she was giving in at all.

"I'm sure he'll agree with me. How fast can you even go in this thing?"

"Hey, I happen to enjoy maxing out at fifty-five."

At that, he laughed. "All right, Bella. It was nice chatting with you, I'll see you around." Still no handshake, but a bit of a bow instead. _A bow? Weird._

"Um, yeah, you too, Edward. I better get home before my dad calls me."

As she started the truck, she wondered exactly why he waited in the parking lot at school instead of say, dropping by her house, but when she turned to roll the window down, he was already gone. She didn't see his car or Jasper's, though. Where had he parked? Had he actually walked there? It wasn't terribly far, but in that case, why couldn't she see him now?


	14. Chapter 14

_**And Here's Alice!**_

Bella almost hit the woman in black as she turned onto her road.

It was a cloudy day, and the small woman was definitely underdressed, wearing a frilly empire waisted black dress with Regency-style puff sleeves. If it had been pink, she would have looked like a cupcake; as it was, she looked like she was going to Napoleon's funeral. Her hair was more Louise Brooks than Jane Austen - short black pixie rather than lumps of curls everywhere. She carried a matching black frilly purse and sunhat. She was as pale as the Cullens, and she was walking in the middle of the road.

"Hey!" yelled Bella as she slammed on her brakes. The whiplash from stopping so fast hurt her neck; she hoped she wouldn't have to see Dr. Cullen again so soon. The woman kept walking, though, as if she hadn't heard her. Bella turned off the engine and jumped down from her truck. "Are you okay?" she asked.

Finally the woman turned, and Bella gasped. She resembled nothing more than the vampire Bella had met in Croatia years and years ago. Except that her eyes were a bit more orange than red, but it was still the strangest color she'd ever seen on a person. If this was a person.

As if she read her mind, the woman said, "Of course. I'd hurt your car more than your car could hurt me. Didn't they tell you anything?"

"Th-they? The -" and here she swallowed and whispered -"the vampires?"

Instead of looking at Bella as if she were crazy, the woman nodded. "How many have you met? Besides Jasper, I mean."

"JASPER is a vampire? Holy crow! I - I mean - what, what the hell is going on?"

The woman sighed. "Oh, I can see you really don't know anything. Well, I can see your father won't understand, so let's go to your home before he gets back there. I'll - hide in your closet," she said, nodding. "Oh, you can call me Alice, by the way."

"Bella Swan... and how do you know Jasper?"

"Now that is a question best answered not in public," she replied, her face almost smiling. 'Almost' was the story of her face, really, as she had the deadest expression Bella had ever seen.

"Um, I guess you aren't planning on eating me, or, you'd have already done it?"

"You smell nice, but I'm trying really hard not to eat humans anymore," she said blithely, as if it was a problem everyone had, not eating humans.

Bella swallowed as she started the car. She was about to ask if that was really true, when Alice spoke. "We can live on animals, and that's what makes the eyes change towards yellow. I have no idea why human blood makes our eyes red instead, but that's what it does."

 _Drive. Keep driving, you're almost home._ "So Edward and Jasper are vampires who live on animals instead of humans?"

"Oh, you're right, they are! Did Demetri tell you about witches?"

"Uh, yeah, I think he said he was one, and I was one, and my power was to block his."

"You actually block lots of stuff, but not mine," she said casually. "I can see the future, but not always that clearly. It helps if you're firm in your decisions."

"Oh. You can see the future. Is uh, is that why you were walking in the middle of the road?"

"In that road, yeah. I walk most places though. Like I said, cars can't hurt me, so whatever. I'm not suicidal."

Bella swallowed her words, as she had been just about to ask. "And you wanted to meet me because..."

"Honestly I'm a little worried," she said in a soft voice that didn't sound worried at all. "I mean, logically I know Jasper and I will get along sometime, but when he disappeared I got pretty freaked."

"He disappeared? You mean when he went to Alaska?"

"No, before that. I saw him in Alaska just fine, and that was reassuring. On some levels," she said in a voice with more sarcasm than anything else she'd yet said.

Bella decided she didn't want to know what Jasper was doing in Alaska. "But you've never met him?"

"Nope! Just seen him in visions since I became a vampire."

They turned into the Swan's driveway. "OK, so you were human once."

"I was, but my memory only starts after I was a vampire. One of the first visions I had was Jasper's face."

"Could you see the future before?"

" _They_ said I could," she said in the flattest tone Bella had yet heard her use. "I don't remember anything, like I said."

"And _they_ turned you into a vampire?"

"Right."

Bella led her up to the bedroom. "So, yeah, I guess you'll know before I do if my dad's coming up here. Feel free to read or play on the internet while I do homework or uh, eat." She shuddered. "I am kind of not ok with the whole killing people thing."

"Believe me, neither am I. Humans just taste a lot better, like, um... chocolate versus broccoli?"

Bella laughed out of sheer reflex. "OK, ok. I guess I can't really do anything to help you. I'm still uh, kinda stuck on the _Edward is a vampire_ thing."

"Oh?"

"Well, he told me a bunch of stuff that can't be true if he's a vampire... that was once a human... and oh Jesus, all the Cullens are vampires too, aren't they?"

"Uh, I believe so, yes. Carlisle and Emmett and Rosalie? Definitely."

Bella felt boneless as she collapsed onto her bed. "My doctor is a vampire! Oh my God, oh my God!"

"The Cullens were all turned by Carlisle, and I think Edward too?"

"Yeah, that's basically what he said, in way that _a liar would_!" She hugged a pillow to her face.

"That's weird. I mean, he told Jasper he was going to tell you, or have Jasper tell you, I don't know why he wouldn't just say it."

"I don't know either! I thought he was just being a cute guy interested in me! But no, he's a vampire and who the heck knows why he was talking to me! He probably wants to eat me!"

Alice actually frowned. "Well, I kinda want to eat you, but I'm not going to. English doesn't have the best words to describe desire vs. wants, though. Like, again, you desire chocolate, but for dinner you probably want calves brains or something. Right?"

"Uh, not precisely, but something savory, sure. So, Edward kinda wants to eat me, but he would prefer not to chow down on people, is that what you mean?"

"Yeah, that about sums it up."

"So he was just being a guy chatting up a girl?"

"It's possible."

Bella moaned into her pillow. She wasn't quite sure what was worse, Edward being a cute guy chatting her up, or Edward being a vampire wanting to eat her.


	15. Chapter 15

_Enjoy an extra chapter this week!_

 ** _Chapter 15_**

Jasper and Edward came back from the meeting with the pack feeling something neither of them had felt in decades - exhausted. For starters, there had been far more wolves than they'd originally thought. Apparently, the day they'd gotten gas, all the Quileute youths who "had the werewolf gene" (as Carlisle put it) were present at the gas station. Edward remembered the evil looks he'd gotten from the two actual werewolves, and the staring from the rest of them. And that had been enough to trigger the change. The boys were now being homeschooled, and the only girl was Sam's lover. None of them trusted them, and not even Jasper's projected calm helped that.

At least it was done now - they'd both signed the treaty, never to bite a human, and delineating borders to each group. They didn't exactly like Carlisle, but the old man who had once been a werewolf, Quil Ateara, had met him over seventy years ago, and remembered his shock at meeting the "pale gold-eyes" himself. That helped, that they knew what golden eyes on a vampire meant. Good thing they didn't know how easy it was to eat enough animals to cover up red eyes in two weeks. Not that Edward was ever thinking of eating people again - especially not after his conversation with Bella - but he was slightly concerned about Jasper.

There was a knock on their door. They glanced at each other, as it was after midnight. "It's not a human," said Edward slowly. He could read her thoughts, of course, but they were trickier than any other vampire - most thought just as linearly as they had at humans, but not this one. "She's not thinking of her name, though. She has a strange power that makes her thoughts difficult. She seems friendly, at least."

Jasper nodded, then opened the door. A small smiling vampire female stood there, orange eyes focused fully on Jasper, and her thoughts were all of Jasper, memories of him, things that Edward remembered that no one else had been present for. "How are you -"

"Precognitive," she replied before he finished his sentence. "You're the telepath, right? God, watching you answer Jasper without him talking was a huge pain." Her eyes never strayed from Jasper. "You know, you've kept me waiting a long time," she said in a far sweeter tone.

Jasper answered, "Well shucks, I'm quite sorry about that, ma'am," and held out his hand to her. And then Edward saw something happened he hadn't seen since Carmen meant Eleazar: two mates knowing each other in their soul, touching to become one. Reading two minds like that was extremely shattering, and it knocked him down to his knees. "Should we go someplace more private?"

"The Cullens might be more appreciative," she replied.

Edward sighed. "You can stay here; I was going to make sure Bella didn't suffocate in her sleep."

"Oh, is that what you're calling it?" mocked Jasper. Edward sniffed and walked out the door.

To see Emmett. "Oh, hey, you _are_ still wigging out about Bella. You uh, still didn't eat her, right?"

"Of course not," he snapped. "Come on, then."

There was a tree that overlooked Bella's bedroom. He didn't watch her change - he wasn't trying to rob her privacy - but could hear her breathing when it finally slowed down, and then turned to watch her sleep.

"So Edward, wanna hear a joke?"

"No."

"Well, it's not a very funny joke. What's the difference between you and a stalker?"

"Shut up, Emmett," he suggested.

"Bella would never _fit_ in the back of your trunk."

"You're right, that wasn't funny at all," he sneered. "Why do you think I'm going to kill her? I was perfectly fine having a conversation with her earlier today."

"I know, Jasper and I picked you up before you could kill her."

"You picked me up right after I had ended our conversation, and I ended it when I couldn't take her scent anymore."

"And you weren't even downwind," he said, slow clapping.

He wanted to rip Emmett's tongue out, but the problem was, Emmett would be just as loud thinking as he was talking. Louder, even, as he was keeping his voice low enough so that no humans would possibly hear him, as he sat at the bottom of Edward's tree. Still, he asked, "Has anyone ever torn your tongue out?"

"Holy crap, you Volturi really are violent. We vegetarians are way peaceful, man. Besides, who would do that but Rose?" _And she likes my tongue._

"Oh God, please think of something else," moaned Edward.

"OK, OK, but you are going to kill her, right?"

"I'm going to turn her into a vampire! That's not the same thing!"

 _Rose would beg to differ._

"Because she can't have children?" he asked incredulously. "Bella's eighteen, she probably can't imagine being married with children, especially since her parents divorced when she was what, three?"

"But it's not your place to take that choice away from her," Emmett replied.

"What does that mean?"

"Uh, just what I said."

"You'd rather Demitri do it? Or Aro?"

"I don't know those dudes, man. But you need to fully explain everything to her before she chooses."

"That's not how it works, Emmett," he chuckled. "If I explain everything to her, she has to become a vampire. You know the law."

"The law punishes vampires for breaking the secret instead of killing people," he growled. "I don't actually have a high opinion of the law."

Edward blinked. "How would the Volturi possibly survive if they did that? They all kill people, or have, every vampire ever, except Carlisle, has killed people. You have. Rose has."

"Well, case-by-case, then."

"You want to be punished for killing two singers? I'm proving right now that it's possible to resist," he teased.

"Almost no one else does that! I haven't killed anyone since 1937, who else can you say that about?"

"You, the rest of your coven, the whole Denali coven? Do you know how many men they killed before the twentieth century? I got to hear all about it. They thought I'd understand because I'd killed people too. But I only killed the kind of people Rosalie killed, Emmett. I had no sympathy for them."

"You don't have much sympathy for anyone," he spat.

"No, just Jasper and Carlisle," Edward agreed.

"And Bella Swan."

"I just don't want her to die. Humans are very fragile, you know."

"Tanya and Kate and Irina know it better than I do."

Edward gritted his teeth while he asked, "Just what the hell are you implying?"

"I'm implying your interest in Bella Swan isn't professional, duh."

"What else would it be?"

Emmett sighed. Idiot. "So why isn't Jasper with you now?"

"Oh! My God, you won't believe it, but he met this woman, Alice, she's trying to be a vegetarian too, she's actually able to see the future. So she'd been watching Jasper for years. I don't know why she didn't just come to meet him, but they're probably having lots of sex at your house as we speak."

"No kidding? Go Jasper! Good for him." And his thoughts turned again to Rose. Naked.

"Could you go away if you're going to do that," Edward begged.

"Oh, sorry. It just kinda happens every five or ten minutes."

 _"I noticed that."_

Emmett grinned. _Just wait till it happens to you._

Edward sniffed. "I will, thank you very much. I'll wait, and wait, and wait."

"Hey, so, I think Bella's going to wake up just fine, like she has every night of her life. You wanna go eat something?"

Edward considered. He had a point, and being so near her house, saturated in her scent, definitely made him hungry. "All right. Let's go."

They ran together to the Olympic Forest, where Emmett chased down a bear, and Edward a mountain lion. Emmett was deathly quiet while hunting, didn't even think of Rose at all, only the prey. It was quite relaxing, really, as Edward's thoughts were equally focused. It was nearly as good as being alone.

After they had both finished - and Edward, still a little bit of a messy eater, jumped in a river to wash himself off - Emmett came up to him. "Feeling better?"

"Much. Will you join me back at the Swan's?"

He sighed. "Yeah, someone has to make sure you don't break into her house."

"Excuse me, I would never."

"So you won't be oiling her window while she's at school?"

Edward thought for a second, then replied, "No, it's not like I could resuscitate her if she did stop breathing. I'd just call up Carlisle to bring a portable ventilator. Actually, maybe he'd let me borrow it. Wait, no, she'd be more startled to see me than him."

"Uh, Edward? That was a joke.

"Oh! Oh, yes, very funny Emmett."

They resumed their posts up and at the tree.

And Bella inhaled and exhaled all the night long, dreaming about missing a test at her old school, and unable to find the book she needed to study for it.


	16. Chapter 16

Chapter 16

Alice left somewhat abruptly, merely saying, "Oh, they're home," and jumping _out of Bella's bedroom window_ on the second story, doing a cartwheel in mid-air, and landing gracefully in a crouch. Before that, she had been tapping her hands rhythmically in what Bella assumed was nervousness; she admitted that there was something weird about Forks that actually prevented her power from working, and not being able to see Jasper was the reason she came in the first place. She didn't talk about her life before coming, except to say "it was shitty," but claimed she could put up with anything when she could see Jasper. The first time he seemed to disappear - only dead people were unable to be viewed - she panicked.

So Bella watched her walk away towards Edward and Jasper's place, and as soon as she was out of sight, she pulled out her phone and tapped #1 to call Rachel. It went directly to voicemail, saying she was probably in class. So she tried Becky, but the phone just rang and rang before going to voicemail. The last time she had talked to Becky, she was eight months pregnant, and the voicemail confirmed, in David's voice, that they were at the hospital. She smiled thinking about it, then dialed the Black's home number. She wasn't as close to Jake, but he was the only person who might believe that she'd met a vampire.

"Hi Billy, is Jake around?"

"Oh, uh, he's not really feeling well."

"Is he ok?"

"I don't know, Bella."

"Did you take him to the doctor?"

"He's too sick to drive, unfortunately."

"Seriously? Do you need me to do it?"

"Paul will be taking him tomorrow, don't worry about it."

"Well, give him me and Dad's good wishes."

"Will do, Bella. What? Oh. He wants to talk to you."

Bella sighed in relief. "I had something awesome to tell you, but apparently your dad thinks you're sick?"

"Ugh. Not really. But you should stay away."

"Contagious, I got ya."

"So what awesome thing do you have to tell me?"

"The Cullens are vampires!"

Bella could hear Jake breathing in the silence. "Who told you that?"

"Another vampire!"

"What! Bella, are you fu- are you insane? Vampires aren't cute and cuddly, they're _dangerous_ as hell! What is wrong with you, hanging out with vampires!"

"Holy crow, Jake, what is with you?" She could hear him breathing again. "Uh, Jake? I didn't mean to scare you or upset you..."

"... yeah, yeah, I know, Bella. I didn't mean to get so mad. I'm just, uh, really overemotional lately."

Because he was sick. "Well, I didn't mean to meet all these vampires, they just seem to accidentally find me. I mean, well, they come to Forks because of the sun - and how do you know how dangerous vampires are, anyway?"

He sighed. "I can't really tell you that, I'm sorry, Bella. I really wish I could, but I literally can't."

Because he promised? "Well, I promised the first one I wouldn't say anything either, but I guess I can say he had red eyes, and he didn't hurt me at all."

"And you know what red eyes means," he said cautiously.

She swallowed audibly. "Yeah. Well, anyway, today I met a vampire with orange-kind-of eyes. She said she just started eating animals, and the Cullens were vampires that always eat animals."

"Not always. It takes maybe a couple weeks of the new diet to change. She might have killed you, Bella. They have reflexes that are so fast the human eye can't even see them going for the throat."

"Oh god, I'm going to have nightmares," she groaned.

"I just want you to understand," he said, "these things are really not cool to be around."

"Um, did you know about the Cullens already?"

"Course I did. Hell, there was a story about them that we heard even before I knew that Cold Ones actually were real."

"A story? Tell me!"

So he told her about the Cullens in 1937, and Carlisle making a treaty with Billy Black's grandfather. "Same exact four vampires as now, just wearing different clothes."

She shivered. "That's spooky."

"They may look mostly human, but they really aren't, Bella. They're beautiful because it lures prey."

The word "beautiful" triggered another thought. "So I guess you know about Jasper and Edward too?"

"The two new vampire boys? Yeah, of course I do. We were - ack. During lunch last week, they actually stopped at our gas station on the rez to get cheap gas."

"Oh, when they went to Alaska?"

"Um, I guess? How do you know that?"

"Alice can see the future."

"What? Are you serious?"

"Well, she sometimes gets blanks. Like, before I called you, she couldn't see Jasper and Edward at all."

"Oh! Oh, that's - I mean, weird. She could see him before that?"

"Yeah, she's totally obsessed with the guy."

"Ah, ok, see, they mate for life. And they don't die easy, let me tell you."

"They do die, though?"

"They can catch fire. And they can tear each other apart. Otherwise, almost nothing can stop them."

"Creepy."

"Very creepy."

She snorted. "Could you have imagined a few days ago, you and I would be having a conversation about actual vampires?"

"Bella, I couldn't have imagined it a week ago. Or even if you had actually told me about that first vampire you met, I don't think I would have believed you then."

"Well, honestly, I don't know exactly what it was about the guy, but he was - unearthly. It was very easy to believe that he wasn't human. And he threatened me if I told anyone. He sent my mom postcards, one a year, with nothing but his name on the back. Even when she moved. That uh, didn't exactly make me think he was lying about killing me."

"Wow. Now that's definitely hella creepy, Bells."

"Isn't it? How's school?"

"Not going."

"Oh, right." She chatted about school, mentioned Mike briefly.

"Did you really want to date him, though?"

"Oh, not really. But sometimes I wish I had a boyfriend who actually understood me."

"Doesn't everyone, ah, wish for someone like that?"

Bella giggled. "You want a boyfriend?"

"Not exactly, doofus."

"Sorry, sorry. Is there anyone in your class you like?"

"No, not in my class."

"Anyone I know?"

"Yeah, I think you know her pretty well."

"Really!? Angela?"

He sighed. "No, not Jessica either, doofus."

Prickles covered Bella's skin again when she deciphered his meaning. "Oh. _Oh._ "

"Yeah. Do you mind if we just talk on the phone more often? I can call you this time tomorrow."

"Um. Yeah. I mean, no, I don't mind," she said softly.

"Great. Um. I kinda, um, I mean, feeling ill, ya know."

"Oh, right. You sound fine so I keep forgetting," she explained.

"Sure, sure. Well."

"Well, ok, I'll talk to you tomorrow?"

"Sounds like a plan."

"OK, I hope you feel better."

"Surprisingly enough, I feel a little better already."

She smiled. "Hopefully I can keep that up."

He snorted, but didn't say anything but, "Good night, Bella."

"Night, Jake."

Jacob. She had never really thought of him that way. Partly because he seemed more like a brother - but, well, he wasn't actually her brother, not at all, and he was growing into quite a handsome young man. _Tall, dark and handsome, eh?_ Well, talking would be fine for now. She had been serious that the main reason for wanting a boyfriend was for a friend who understood her. Jessica certainly didn't, although she was a good friend. Angela as well. Besides, she didn't want them to kiss her. Sex was a little scary, but kissing seemed quite desirable. Jake had strong arms to take her into - he gave quite nice hugs. And he already liked her, did he? That wasn't terribly surprising, from what her mother said about men. He'd probably liked her since he was maybe 13 or something, since he was old enough to actually notice girls as something more than nuisances. He was younger than her, but not that much, and besides, with his height he looked a lot older.

Even if they didn't click, it wouldn't be terrible for him to be a closer friend. They'd almost grown up together since she was six or so, and someone - the tribal elders? - had told him all about vampires. Two very good things for Bella right now. She wrote a long diatribe on her computer journal about it, something she had stopped using mostly, but she felt like she couldn't settle in to do homework if she didn't get it all out in print. And she was right, the minute she clicked "save", she felt much calmer.

So she finished her homework and went down to say goodnight to her father, before settling in for the night.


	17. Chapter 17

_**Notice: this refers to sexual acts, but is not explicit. Scroll down to the Chapter heading if it bothers you.**_

 _ **Request for Jasper meeting Alice:**_

"Well, ma'am, I suppose you would be my mate."

"That's right."

Jasper can feel everything Alice feels: wonder, disbelief, the sense that at last, they are together. This is an unusual case, certainly, but Jasper has seen mates meet before. This is similar, but far more extreme.

Because she is his. And he is hers.

Alice's gift means she knows almost everything about Jasper that there is to know. He doesn't know much about her, but he feels, beyond the lovely mate feelings, that she has been hurt. That makes him angry, makes him want to soothe her hurts.

"Can I kiss you?"

"You can do whatever you want, please kiss me."

Clothes come off - words have failed. They make love that shakes the roof of the little house.

When Edward and Emmett get close, Alice and Jasper are still naked, but she does inform Jasper of their return.

He sighs, wipes himself off, and pulls on a pair of jeans. She pulls on a t-shirt of his, as she brought no clothing besides what she was wearing. She also grabs some boxers, to avoid a scene when Edward sees that she is only wearing a t-shirt.

Both of the boys smell the scent of vampire venom, the scent that comes with either two vampires boning, or a vampire being torn apart to die. The scent is rather pungent, and Emmett, of course, comments on it. But his emotions are cheerful - he isn't offended by anyone having sex, and he fist-bumps Jasper.

Edward, of course, is a bit more conflicted. He himself is a virgin, saving himself for his own mate, so he doesn't want to be judgmental about two people who just barely met falling into bed. As he normally would be, but vampires have to be open-minded about mates. There's something almost magical about the way they fit together, the way that their brains give off satisfaction, not just sexual, but spiritual and emotional. It's almost too much for Edward to take, and he's seen mates together before.

And then it hits him.

"Oh my God," he moans.

"What?" asks everyone but Alice, who has a smug look on her face.

"I think Bella Swan is my mate."

 _ **Chapter 17**_

Jasper and Emmett were staring at Edward as if he had the black plague. Alice was merely smiling smugly.

"Uh, why do you think that, Edward?" asked Emmett.

"I'm obsessed with her safety and want to watch her all the time. When she's not in my line of sight, or hearing, I get rather anxious. And she's rather beautiful, don't you think?"

"She's aright, I guess," drawled Jasper. "I think you might be right, damn."

"Oh for God's sake, of course she's your mate," snapped Alice. "This isn't brain surgery guys."

"What do you know?"

She shrugs. "I can only see things you decide to do. You were already thinking of turning her, so I saw that happening, and if it does, you two will definitely be together forever."

"This is not good. Carlisle won't change a healthy person," said Emmett.

"I don't need Carlisle to change her. I made sure that our treaty said that we wouldn't bite a human, and we won't. Apparently injecting venom to major pulse points makes the change even faster than three days, so that's what we'll do," said Edward.

"But what about Bella's life?" asked Emmett.

"What about it? She'll be a vampire with me. Look at these two! Look at how happy they are!"

"Well, I can't tell as well as you can, but what if Bella doesn't want to be a vampire?"

"I'm not sure I understand what you mean," replied Edward, scratching his head.

"Edward. I know you've been a vampire for over a century, but you have to remember some stuff about being human."

"Of course I do, Emmett, but the memories are fuzzy compared to after turning."

Emmett sighed, then said, "Rosalie sometimes hates herself. Hates me and her for being vampires, not able to have children."

Edward blanched, eyes wide. "Oh. I - I never thought about that."

"If you don't change her, she'll go to college, maybe meet someone and have kids. Why don't you at least talk to her about it, maybe give her the option to wait a few years? Eighteen is kind of young you know."

"It's not that young, I was changed at seventeen."

 _And we can all tell._ "I read that the human brain isn't finished forming till like age twenty-five, in fact."

"You want me to wait seven years for her? What if she dies during that time?"

"Edward, if she gets hurt, then you can change her guilt-free. But you actually need to talk to her about it. And be honest about the bad things as well as the good things. Hell, some people think their right to die is important. She may never want to change, and you have to accept that."

"But - but - why? Why would she not want to - " To drink only blood, and have humans scenting all the time distracting you. To have one mistake equal a death, a human life snuffed out forever. To never age, never change from day to day, to never ever sleep or dream.

Jasper coughed politely. "I wouldn't say that I had a great life before I met you. There's plenty of shit that goes along with being a vamp, and there's plenty of reasons someone wouldn't want to change their species."

Edward slowly nodded, then shrunk into a ball on the floor. Bella Swan was definitely his mate, if his reaction to her dying - wanting to die - wanting to stay human - not wanting him - meant anything at all.

If he was human, he would have cried, but tears are another thing vampires can't do.

So he wept without tears, crying and moaning for his lost love.

"Jesus Christ, Eddie, she's probably gonna say 'yes'," pointed out Jasper.

"Let me do this now," he groaned. "I'm never going to be in love if she rejects me."

"Um, it's actually quite possible for vampires to love each other even if they aren't mates," said Alice. "You just didn't even ever try with the Denali girls, or anyone else who would have converted to vegetarianism for you."

"Alice," said Edward, his voice muffled by his fist, "you're ruining a perfectly good pity party. Please stop."

Emmett stared at Edward, still curled up in a ball, making little moans every so often. "Do you think he's gonna do this for a long time?"

"Honestly, I have no clue," said Jasper. "Obviously this is the first time he's met a girl he likes at all."

"Uh, well, we do have extra soundproof rooms at the Cullen HQ, if you guys wanna hang out."

"That sounds more appealing," said Alice, throwing off the t-shirt and putting her dress back on.

"Hey, nice boobs," said Emmett as she got dressed.

She threw the finger at him as she laced her boots up.

Jasper put the t-shirt back on, and his sneakers, and the three of them ran to the Cullen house.

Everyone was reading, except Rose, who was working on her convertible '68 Mustang. "Hey Rose, look up!" shouted Emmett.

At his shout she stood up from under the hood, smiled, and opened her arms to him. He picked her up and whirled her around while they kissed. "Babe, we got a new vamp in town. This is Alice. She can see the future, so she knew Jasper was her mate for years."

"Except I can't see parts of Forks, so I got scared and came over." She shook hands with Rosalie.

"Let me guess, these are your only clothes? Esme has a short dress or two that might fit you, but we must go shopping. Or if you can't handle crowds, online, for sure."

"Oooh, I've never been shopping before! Can we do it now?"

"We can online shop now, if the boys are ok with it?"

Jasper kissed Alice on the forehead. "Can't wait to see what you get babe."

"Me too! Get some new undies!"

Rose kissed her palm, then smacked Emmett with it. "Of course."

They followed the girls into the house, where Esme and Carlisle were snuggled up and reading books. "Hey, Esme, Carlisle, this is Alice, Jasper's mate. She can see the future, so don't ask what she wants."

The two laughed. "Esme Cullen, and - " "Carlisle Cullen. Pleased to meet you. So you've known Jasper was your mate?"

"Yes, but there's something weird in Forks that prevents me from seeing him sometimes. Do you have any idea what that would be?"

"It might well be the werewolves," mused Carlisle. At Alice's wide-eyed look, he added, "They aren't really werewolves. They have a tribal ancestor that could shift from man to giant wolf, and now they can too. The presence of vampires seems to activate the shifting."

"And I can't see them at all! I had no idea they were around. Huh. Maybe that's why Bella's future went away."

"What?"

"Oh, I was hanging out with Bella Swan before you guys. It was like, I couldn't see Jasper or Edward, so I went to Bella's, then when they came back, she was gone, so I went to see Jasper. She's back now, though."

"I believe she's family friends with the Black family, descendants of Ephraim Black, whom we met in the '30s," said Carlisle.

"Then that is definitely what it is. Oh boy, this is going to be crazy weird, not being able to see stuff all the time," Alice sighed.

"Eh, forget the dogs. Come and see my computer shopping bookmarks!" announced Rose.

"Oh! Certainly," agreed Alice, and they went to the office to shop. It was fascinating to Alice, who'd never even seen a computer before. It took a while before she settled in to simply browsing for clothing - first she wanted to watch television, then listen to music. Finally she was ready to shop, and after Rose measured her, she asked what her budget was.

"Assume we have five thousand dollars for you."

"I can work with that."

Overnight shipping. Alice couldn't wait. "Can we go real shopping in the morning?"

"If you really want to. But I've got stuff to do, could you just go with Jasper?"

"Yeah, that's fine," he called out from the video game he and Emmett were playing.

"I mean, I'll go with you," she sighed. "But I am not spending my whole day shopping with you, after we spent three hours playing around on the internet."

"Rosalie, how did you become a vampire?"

Rose started. "Do you really want to ask me that?"

"Well, the point is, I know. Do you want to hear how similar my story was?"

"I, uh, I -"

"I'm not going to tell you now. I just want to let you know, if you need to let anything out, I'll be there for you."

"Uh, ok. And uh, yours was worse?"

"In some ways. Really it was more after turning, that was bad."

Rose gave a slight shudder. "I'm sorry."

"It's fine. I killed them both before I came to Forks."

"Both?"

"Victoria and James. They called themselves my owners."

"OK, ok, I'll go shopping with you later, promise."

Alice gave a fake smile. "Thanks Rosalie!"


End file.
